Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen appeared on CNN Headline News today to defend a British TV ad which featured gay men in parental roles, serving Heinz mayonnaise.
Besen criticized U.S. foodmaker H.J. Heinz for succumbing to homophobia and withdrawing the ad under pressure from the right-wing American Family Association. About 200 viewer complaints were received by British regulators.
Here’s the ad:
Truth Wins Out defended the ad:
The Headline News segment included Randy Sharp of the AFA, who claimed that the ad promoted a homosexual lifestyle: “What does mayonnaise have to do with homosexuals and their lifestyle?” Sharp claimed that 70,000 AFA supporters in the United States disagreed with the ad.
Business marketing analyst Dan Hill said Heinz was right to pull the ad. Hill said:
“In business you can never afford to forget that the bottom line is that ‘family values’ means ‘my family, not your family,’ and I think in the UK most households have traditional family structures.”
Besen responded that gay couples are well-accepted in the United Kingdom and that gay soldiers have been allowed to serve in British armed forces with great success.
Tags: advertising, American Family Association, gay, Heinz, parenting, television, Truth Wins Out12 Comments »
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Mr. Besen
I’d like to commend you for your well said and intelligently articulated representation on CNN.
Comment by Nathan — June 26, 2008 @ 12:12 am
“Unwise”? Uncharacteristically understated for you guys. It’s a blatant slap in the face to any man whose ever loved another man. I’ll be phoning Heinz to register my own complaint today.
Comment by Dave Rattigan — June 26, 2008 @ 4:37 am
Thanks Nathan – your kind words are much appreciated. Dave, thanks for calling Heinz. I called them yesterday. The number to reach the company to register the complaint is 800-255-5750.
Comment by Wayne Besen — June 26, 2008 @ 9:03 am
Cheers, Wayne. I’ll probably try to find another number, as I am in the UK. Hopefully that will have more clout, too, as it is a UK ad.
Comment by Dave Rattigan — June 26, 2008 @ 10:21 am
I have never considered myself much of an activist, but I am absolutely enraged. Gays are unfairly critcized for being oversexual, but when there is an ad displaying a beautiful family scene, we are again criticized.
Thanks Wayne and others for fighting for all of us. I will be calling Heinz today. I just wish I could do more.
Comment by Abraham — June 26, 2008 @ 10:40 am
Dave, sorry for my choice of “unwise” — I was typing that headline in a bit of a hurry.
Comment by Michael Airhart — June 26, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
Do they have 57 varieties of the word “cowardly?”
This also offends me as a born Pittsburgher.
Comment by Emily K — June 26, 2008 @ 3:14 pm
Wayne, thanks for the defense. However, I don’t think that this add was supposed to be about “gay men” at all. I think the joke is that this is a wife fixing her husband lunch but the mayo is so authentic that she becomes a New York Deli guy. The kids see her as Mum and the husband as his wife but to use she appears as this Deli service guy.
It’s kinda funny, really.
But the wacko fundies turned it into a gay issue and then got all fired up. They read “gay” into stuff FAR more often than we do.
Comment by Timothy Kincaid — June 26, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
What’s the deal? It was a cute ad… I enjoyed it, it portrayed gays in much needed positive light, a mom (mum, excuse me) whose cuisine, by sagacious and motherly choosing of heinz mayonaise, was really in a fact a stereotypical sandwich vendor…. at least I got the joke….lol
Comment by Eric — June 26, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
Timothy:
I agree with you. But to 95% OF people, it is a gay ad with the kiss.
Great work on the Bianko stuff.
Comment by Wayne Besen — June 26, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
Truth Wins Out needs to go on the offensive and not get stuck in defending gay people and their life styles.
There needs to be an ACTIVE initiative to PROMOTE homosexuality (gay and lesbian relationships) as the survival mechanism for the human species! We are facing horrific and mounting overpopulation which is destroying our planet and causing worldwide violence and battles for survival. Homosexuality is a natural and gentle solution to over population problems rather than violence and war.
Use media to PROMOTE HOMOSEXUALITY. let the Family values groups react to THAT!
Comment by Mary Lou — March 20, 2011 @ 11:47 pm
Mary Lou, does your comment refer to this particular story or are you just making an offhand comment?
Comment by Daniel — March 20, 2011 @ 11:53 pm