Coca-Cola Cuts Gay Wedding Scene From Irish Advertisement

Soft drink company Coca-Cola has left out a same-sex marriage scene from the Irish version of a television advertisement being shown across Europe.

The ad campaign titled Reasons To Believe, leaves the scene out of the new advert, replacing it with an image of a young straight couple walking down the aisle.

Coca-Cola has found itself in trouble this week after it was highlighted it had omitted a gay-marriage scene, which is part of a Europe-wide campaign, from a TV advert to be broadcast in Ireland.

The Reasons to Believe campaign features the idea that for every negative part of life, there are many more positive ones. Every country’s advertisement is tweaked to fit where it is shown. In the UK, a red card is shown at a football match while Ireland includes St Patrick’s Day.

However, In one version of the ad which can be seen below, and which has been shown on TV channels across several European countries, a same-sex couple surrounded by friends and family after their wedding can be seen. The Irish version of the same ad features a straight couple.

Online Irish publication, TheJournal.ie reported an unnamed spokesperson for Coca Cola in Ireland as making the following statement:

“…the wedding images used in the ad for the UK and in other parts of Europe show two men getting married. The reason that this was changed for Ireland is that while civil partnership for gay people is legal, gay marriage currently is not. This will be the subject of a referendum (2015). … We wanted each ad to be relevant and valid for its own market.”

Many have criticised this response, as the British version of the ad does feature the couple, even though Scotland or Northern Ireland has yet to legalise equal marriage. It is also being argued that the scene is relevant as civil partnership is currently legal in the Republic of Ireland.

(Via YouTube/Coca-Cola Norway)

(Via YouTube/Coca-Cola Irleand)

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