Heinz – New York Deli Mayonnaise
26 June 2008 by SilkyOver the years, TV’s Worst Adverts has been accused of many things: being a funking clown, having inappropriate relations with badgers, and most frequently of all, having no sense of humour. What. So. Ever.
This is mostly because TV’s Worst Adverts thinks that “irony” is something that looks a bit ferrous. And TV’s Worst Adverts thinks that wit is the lowest form of sarcasm.
But compare to the 200 (or so) mirthless Jim Davidsons who have complained about the Heinz New York Deli Mayonnaise advert, TV’s Worst Adverts is funnier than watching a monkey playing the drums after you’ve smoked your own body weight in woolers.
If you could imagine such a thing!
Yep, it seems that the sight of 2 men kissing, even though it’s a peck on the lips, even though it’s clearly part of a joke, even though it’s about as offensive as a tin of magnolia paint, is too much for the homophobic bigots trapped in the narrowness of their own Daily Mail addled minds.
So Heinz has pulled the advert after the back-woods, yokels complained that it was “inappropriate to see two men kissing”, you know, like they do when men celebrate scoring a goal in big, gay, men-on-men football.
Others – who were previously believed not to have yet evolved enough to use a phone – complained the advert was “unsuitable to be seen by children” and that “it raised the difficult problem of parents having to discuss the issue of same-sex relationships with younger viewers”.
However, what many haven’t thought about during this whole debate is the constant barrage of adverts showing men and women kissing which raises the difficult problem for same-sex parents having to discuss the issue of different-sex relationships with younger viewers.
Anyways, one of the reasons this advert has proven so shocking to viewers with lower IQs is that same-sex relationships on TV were previously limited to Luke being bummed over the bonnet of a car in Hollyoaks and that bird from Pushing Daisies tonguing another bird in a Liverpudlian cul-de-sac.
Other than that, same-sex relationships have never been shown on TV. Nor ever mentioned. Nor has anyone on TV ever even thought about it.
On top of this, British children have never before been exposed to such blatant displays of homosexuality on the TV screens, in front of which their lazy, distant parents plonk them, before in their short lives. Accusations that the majority of male children’s TV presenters were as “camp as Christmas” were dismissed as “outrageous, Sweetheart!” by an anonymous spokesman for that group whom I recently met on Clapham Common.
But it’s not just the ignorant, hate-filled pissdrips who have come out of this one badly. Heinz also seem to have more than egg on their faces since they cowardly pulled the “gays” off. They have faced claims of being spineless, of being no better than the homophobes who complained and that their advert was based around the inherent fact that “homosexuality is funny”.
Regardless of TV’s Worst Adverts own sexual preferences, we here at TWA like the advert. I think the joke is actually that the family haven’t noticed that their mum, who clearly was a woman at some point, is now a bloke from a New York deli.
If I were being really picky, just to say something negative, I get the feeling that the man is about as authentically from New York as my Yankees baseball cap is. That’s not to say that he was also made in a sweatshop in Vietnam just that he seems a bit too NYC to be real.
But more so, I really dislike this adverts regressive depiction of the modern British family, in that “Mum” is still the one who makes the sandwiches.
Come on Heinz, it’s not the 1950′s you know. “Dads” make sandwiches for their families too.
Fuckers.
Just How Bad is this Ad?
(5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)
12Responses:
Dutchcloggie
Said on the 26 June 2008
I think the ad is bad purely because the ‘joke’ is not very clear for many people. It would have been a better ad if it had a pay-off that somehow made it clear that Heinz turns your mom in to a deli chef. I think peopel would not have been so offended if this was the case because it would kind of remove the idea of the ad portraying a gay couple & their kids. It would make it clear we were watchign a ‘safe’ straight family but with a twist. In warped people’s minds, this makes a big difference. Making fun of gay peopel in advertising is OK, but making them look like normal people is offensive. Anyway, I rather have all this upheavel about an ad that actually shows gay people, rather than this joke that is actually not gay at all and falls flat.
Oops, bit of a long post.
BB
Said on the 26 June 2008
I think the ad is great. It reminds me a lot of that classic Frasier episode where he ended up having a bubble bath with Danny DeVito reading poetry to him because his girlfriend at the time reminded him of his old gym teacher.
The morons who scrapped it, however, deserve to be Bad Ad of the month.
Lots of people have suggested that Heinz went out for ‘shock’ tactics. Well I’ve seen shock advertising – remember that bizarre chewing gum thing where the bloke threw up a live dog? – and this just doesn’t compare. There’s no suggestion that this is anything but a funny piece of comedy schtick.
Mike Empuria
Said on the 26 June 2008
You said it all: Idiots and Cowards.
Hannah
Said on the 27 June 2008
There’s a group on Facebook with a link to a petition with over 7000 signatures already! That’s more than the 200 dickslaps that complained in the first place. I cocking love this ad. I think the fact it wasn’t clearly spelling out the gist of the ad was very brave and I saluted Heinz for putting it out there. What a shame.
Daniel
Said on the 28 June 2008
I bet TWA’s sexual perference is: homosegsual. Do I win a prize?
This advert should never have been pulled – it’s funny and different and does NOT DO ANYTHING OFFENSIVE.
Though it seems Gaydar (who are protesting against the advert being pulled) love to go the complete opposite direction and make a big song and dance about it, just making gays seem just as stupid.
Everyone just shush and let nice ads stay on telly.
Yours,
Daniel
P.S. I’m a homosexual and I can guide you out of the closet one advert at a time if you like
Thursby
Said on the 3 July 2008
I find this presumption about the same-sex relationship think really odd – never even crossed my mind – I mean, if that is the pitch, why that specific characterisation of the cook?
Given the initial interaction between the kids and the cook – as Dutchcloggie points out – says that if your Mum uses Heinz Deli Mayo, you’re sandwiches will be as atuthentic as having a Katz’s cook in the kitchen…the goodbye to the partner is just a kicker on that back of the overall premise.
BTW I’m pretty certain that the cook is being played by an actor called Jay Benedict, a Californian who’s been UK based for many years.
Joshua
Said on the 12 February 2009
See below comment.
Joshua
Said on the 12 February 2009
I thought this advert was awesome. It was an original idea and it wasn’t patronising or offensive to any audience. The idea of juxtaposing a housewife with a New York foodie in the same being is a standout. It was clearly light-hearted.
I found the premise of it being ‘homosexually-glorifying’ (oh, because it’s such a bad thing isn’t it?) sickening. How can you misconstrue it as that? And besides, what is wrong with homosexuality? I’m staunch heterosexual and I would never become homosexual but I don’t have single problem with anyone who is. The people who complained are the typical reactionists who want the world to return to the bad old days of Love Thy Neighbour.
If this country is perfectly fine with homosexual relationships then how come a reason the advert was pulled was because “it would be difficult to explain it to children”. So what? As a parent, it your duty to teach your children how to be human and to accept that people are different. The parents who complained are lazy wankers and it makes me so angry that it took only “200 Jim Davidsons” to ban it. Grrrrrrrrr!
If this country is perfectly fine with homosexual relationships then how come a reason the advert was pulled was because “it would be difficult to explain it to children”. So what? As a parent, it your duty to teach your children how to be human and to accept that people are different. The parents who complained are lazy wankers and it makes me so angry that it took only “200 Jim Davidsons” to ban it. Grrrrrrrrr!
CovertJellyfish
Said on the 12 February 2009
Sorry, can someone tell me why this ad is here? My wife was making sandwiches for me and the kids…. what’s wrong with that?
Aidan Bailey
Said on the 18 May 2010
I think Danny De Vito is most famous for his role as the Penquin.-;;
Lillian King
Said on the 30 August 2010
Danny De Vito is quite old now but he is still one of the great actors of Hollywood“*
Jacalyn Revord
Said on the 2 September 2011
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