Can you abstain from being wrong just once?cdd wrote:Oh I think that's a little harsh.Nini wrote:cdd wrong if you'd believe it.
Heinz will make you gay
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Gavin Scott
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7475394.stm
It started with a kiss
By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine
MPs are calling for an advert showing two men kissing to be reinstated after it was pulled following complaints. More than two decades after the first gay kiss on teatime TV, a kiss is clearly not always just a kiss.
Twenty-one years after Britain's first gay kiss on primetime TV prompted condemnation from MPs, a show of intimacy between two men clearly still has the capacity to shock television audiences.
Heinz has withdrawn an advert for its Deli Mayo brand one week into a five-week schedule. It depicts a man with a New York accent and dressed like a chef, making sandwiches in a homely British family kitchen. After a schoolboy and girl - who refer to the wise-cracking chef as "Mum" - dash through to pick up their sandwiches, their harried father appears, seemingly late for work.
The father says a fleeting goodbye but is summoned back by the chef for a more intimate farewell - a brief kiss.
The commercial was not allowed to be shown during children's programming because of Ofcom regulations governing fat, sugar and salt content. But more than 200 complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the advert was "offensive" and "inappropriate".
A spokeswoman for the ASA says it's still assessing whether to investigate, but added that "homosexuality in itself is not a breach of the code" and complaints in the past about adverts showing same-sex kissing had not prompted any action.
Viewing the ad post ban, on YouTube, it's hard not to believe that Heinz must have foreseen controversy, and that this could all be part of an elaborate publicity stunt. The complaints were from people on "all sides of the debate", says Nigel Dickie of Heinz. He apologised for causing any offence but said the advert had to be withdrawn because it failed in its message.
"The mum transforms into a New York deli chef because this sandwich taste is so good," he says. "It's like having your own deli chef in the kitchen. It wasn't intended to be a gay couple, it was intended to be a humorous metaphor for these great-tasting sandwiches."
Boycott call
Yet one organisation failing to see the funny side is the American Family Association, which issued an action alert to members over the advert urging them to register their disapproval with the firm's US headquarters.
"We suggest you forward this to all your family and friends letting them know of the push for homosexual marriage by Heinz," says the association on its website. "It is the kind of ad which we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is illegal in England."
But the withdrawal of the advert has prompted some MPs to insist it be reinstated, while gay rights group Stonewall is leading a campaign to boycott Heinz.
"Some people could be offended by seeing a mixed race couple but the real issue is whether it's proportionate to withdraw an advert on that basis," says chief executive Ben Summerskill.
When EastEnders and children's series Byker Grove were doing this 15 or 20 years ago, that was pioneering television, he says. This time, it's just a joke in an advert.
"No nine or 10-year-old child is going to be outraged by two men kissing unless someone tells that child to be upset."
Outrage or titillation?
The EastEnders kiss was the first gay kiss on primetime television. In fact, it was more of a peck, planted by character Barry Clark on the forehead of his partner Colin Russell. (Audiences had to wait another two years before witnessing Colin in the first mouth-to-mouth kiss). Channel 4's Brookside followed in 1993 with a lesbian kiss that provoked as much titillation as it did disapproval. Then a year later children's drama Byker Grove depicted Noddy misreading the signs in the cinema with pal Gary.
Although more and more soap operas, including The Archers on Radio 4, began to include gay storylines, the capacity to shock audiences with the content of these relationships did not diminish.
The Coronation Street kiss between Todd and Nick in 2003 was much discussed in the media and columnist Ulrika Jonsson was speaking for many when she complained that it should not have been broadcast before the watershed. A letter writer to the News of the World said "it seemed like sensationalism just to boost viewing figures".
Television adverts have been slower to embrace same-sex characters. A kiss between two men on a Dolce & Gabbana advert screened during the X Factor in 2006 provoked 89 complaints. And a few months later a lesbian kiss used by French Connection failed to boost sales. Two years ago a computer game Canis Canem Edit, originally called Bully, was given a 15 certificate because of a kiss between teenage boys.
Michael Cashman, who played Colin in that groundbreaking EastEnders scene, recalls how the kiss in 1987 - and the storyline - caused uproar in the media and questions in the House of Commons.
"Opposition ranged from 'Get this filth off our television screens' to 'you're promoting homosexuality and promoting the spread of Aids, children and families may be watching this," says Cashman. "We pointed out that it was preferable to have two people kissing than two people beating the hell out of each other.
Confused message
"Public taste has to be developed. Public opinion has to be led. And television and the media are central to that."
Cashman, who is now Labour's Member of European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands, regrets Heinz pulling what he describes as a "clever and innovative" reflection on modern life. But advertising commentator Jonathan Gabay quibbles more with the thrust of the message, calling it "confused". "The reality is that you don't automatically think 'New York equals a gay kiss'.
"That said, brands such as Heinz have to reflect the reality of the society occupied by its customers," says Mr Gabay. "It is not up to Heinz or any other brand for that matter to set moral agendas, although they do need to demonstrate a degree of ethics that address all people irrespective of their sexual preferences.
"All brands have to be mindful of audiences watching commercials and their sensibilities."
Brands like FCUK and Benetton have broadcast more erotic or shocking gay narratives, he says, but Heinz is a family brand that says "good, wholesome food" and there is always a risk of upsetting their customers.
"I believe that however much negative publicity this banning generates, history tends to show that brands like Heinz are more than capable of taking the flak squarely on the chin, or should I say in this case on the lips."
It started with a kiss
By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine
MPs are calling for an advert showing two men kissing to be reinstated after it was pulled following complaints. More than two decades after the first gay kiss on teatime TV, a kiss is clearly not always just a kiss.
Twenty-one years after Britain's first gay kiss on primetime TV prompted condemnation from MPs, a show of intimacy between two men clearly still has the capacity to shock television audiences.
Heinz has withdrawn an advert for its Deli Mayo brand one week into a five-week schedule. It depicts a man with a New York accent and dressed like a chef, making sandwiches in a homely British family kitchen. After a schoolboy and girl - who refer to the wise-cracking chef as "Mum" - dash through to pick up their sandwiches, their harried father appears, seemingly late for work.
The father says a fleeting goodbye but is summoned back by the chef for a more intimate farewell - a brief kiss.
The commercial was not allowed to be shown during children's programming because of Ofcom regulations governing fat, sugar and salt content. But more than 200 complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the advert was "offensive" and "inappropriate".
A spokeswoman for the ASA says it's still assessing whether to investigate, but added that "homosexuality in itself is not a breach of the code" and complaints in the past about adverts showing same-sex kissing had not prompted any action.
Viewing the ad post ban, on YouTube, it's hard not to believe that Heinz must have foreseen controversy, and that this could all be part of an elaborate publicity stunt. The complaints were from people on "all sides of the debate", says Nigel Dickie of Heinz. He apologised for causing any offence but said the advert had to be withdrawn because it failed in its message.
"The mum transforms into a New York deli chef because this sandwich taste is so good," he says. "It's like having your own deli chef in the kitchen. It wasn't intended to be a gay couple, it was intended to be a humorous metaphor for these great-tasting sandwiches."
Boycott call
Yet one organisation failing to see the funny side is the American Family Association, which issued an action alert to members over the advert urging them to register their disapproval with the firm's US headquarters.
"We suggest you forward this to all your family and friends letting them know of the push for homosexual marriage by Heinz," says the association on its website. "It is the kind of ad which we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is illegal in England."
But the withdrawal of the advert has prompted some MPs to insist it be reinstated, while gay rights group Stonewall is leading a campaign to boycott Heinz.
"Some people could be offended by seeing a mixed race couple but the real issue is whether it's proportionate to withdraw an advert on that basis," says chief executive Ben Summerskill.
When EastEnders and children's series Byker Grove were doing this 15 or 20 years ago, that was pioneering television, he says. This time, it's just a joke in an advert.
"No nine or 10-year-old child is going to be outraged by two men kissing unless someone tells that child to be upset."
Outrage or titillation?
The EastEnders kiss was the first gay kiss on primetime television. In fact, it was more of a peck, planted by character Barry Clark on the forehead of his partner Colin Russell. (Audiences had to wait another two years before witnessing Colin in the first mouth-to-mouth kiss). Channel 4's Brookside followed in 1993 with a lesbian kiss that provoked as much titillation as it did disapproval. Then a year later children's drama Byker Grove depicted Noddy misreading the signs in the cinema with pal Gary.
Although more and more soap operas, including The Archers on Radio 4, began to include gay storylines, the capacity to shock audiences with the content of these relationships did not diminish.
The Coronation Street kiss between Todd and Nick in 2003 was much discussed in the media and columnist Ulrika Jonsson was speaking for many when she complained that it should not have been broadcast before the watershed. A letter writer to the News of the World said "it seemed like sensationalism just to boost viewing figures".
Television adverts have been slower to embrace same-sex characters. A kiss between two men on a Dolce & Gabbana advert screened during the X Factor in 2006 provoked 89 complaints. And a few months later a lesbian kiss used by French Connection failed to boost sales. Two years ago a computer game Canis Canem Edit, originally called Bully, was given a 15 certificate because of a kiss between teenage boys.
Michael Cashman, who played Colin in that groundbreaking EastEnders scene, recalls how the kiss in 1987 - and the storyline - caused uproar in the media and questions in the House of Commons.
"Opposition ranged from 'Get this filth off our television screens' to 'you're promoting homosexuality and promoting the spread of Aids, children and families may be watching this," says Cashman. "We pointed out that it was preferable to have two people kissing than two people beating the hell out of each other.
Confused message
"Public taste has to be developed. Public opinion has to be led. And television and the media are central to that."
Cashman, who is now Labour's Member of European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands, regrets Heinz pulling what he describes as a "clever and innovative" reflection on modern life. But advertising commentator Jonathan Gabay quibbles more with the thrust of the message, calling it "confused". "The reality is that you don't automatically think 'New York equals a gay kiss'.
"That said, brands such as Heinz have to reflect the reality of the society occupied by its customers," says Mr Gabay. "It is not up to Heinz or any other brand for that matter to set moral agendas, although they do need to demonstrate a degree of ethics that address all people irrespective of their sexual preferences.
"All brands have to be mindful of audiences watching commercials and their sensibilities."
Brands like FCUK and Benetton have broadcast more erotic or shocking gay narratives, he says, but Heinz is a family brand that says "good, wholesome food" and there is always a risk of upsetting their customers.
"I believe that however much negative publicity this banning generates, history tends to show that brands like Heinz are more than capable of taking the flak squarely on the chin, or should I say in this case on the lips."
This is my favourite part. Those people are fucking nuts! Their argument also makes no sense whatsoever in that last two sentences. I'm also fairly miffed about TV audiences and complaint levels. 200 isn't many people out of hundreds of thousands, so how do they reconcile that in their decision making?"We suggest you forward this to all your family and friends letting them know of the push for homosexual marriage by Heinz," says the association on its website. "It is the kind of ad which we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is illegal in England."
Knight knight
Well, the AFA are batshit insane, most know that. Imagine Mediawatch UK but with real political power behind it and an extreme right conservative fundamentalist Christian message.
So, this about a kiss over a jar of manspunk, interesting no?
So, this about a kiss over a jar of manspunk, interesting no?
wasn't that bit about reactions to the 1980s eastenders kiss rather than the mayo?nodnirG kraM wrote:Let's ignore their appalling use of punctuation for a minute - unless they disapprove of the spread of children and familes.god knows who wrote:'you're promoting homosexuality and promoting the spread of Aids, children and families may be watching this
Are they suggesting from the "spread of Aids" bit that Heinz use *real* manspunk in their mayonnaise? Unlike, for example, Tesco Value mayonnaise, which comes primarily from bulls' semen.
"He has to be larger than bacon"