Controversial Flora Gay Advertisement In South Africa Withdrawn By Unilever

Multinational food firm Unilever says it has ordered the withdrawal of a Flora margarine advertisement in South Africa that has been condemned as homophobic.

The advert features a bullet with the words “Uhh dad I’m gay” flying towards a heart made of china and includes the tagline “You need a strong heart today” near the Flora logo.

Multinational food company Unilever has been forced to apologise for an advert for Flora margarine in South Africa which implied finding out your child is gay is as traumatic as being shot in the heart.

The commercial, made by the agency ‘Lowe and Partners‘ in Johannesburg, features the phrase “Uhh dad I’m gay” in the shape of a bullet, flying towards a heart made of china. It has the tagline “You need a strong heart today” near the Flora logo and against a pink background…

Unilever has distanced itself from the advert saying that it “was prepared by an external agency in South Africa and was not approved by anyone at Unilever”…

@JRhodesPianist The advert was not approved by anyone @Unilever. The advert is offensive & unacceptable. We have put an immediate stop to it — Unilever News (@Unilever) September 3, 2013

The firm in question, ‘Lowe and Partners’, has apologised for the “unintended offence”. The firm’s Johannesburg managing director Sarah Dexter said in a statement…

“As the Managing Director of Lowe Johannesburg I would like to unreservedly apologise for this campaign and the unintended offense it has regrettably caused. We have requested the immediate removal of this work from all media.”

Flora is sold in the UK, Czech Republic, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.

Last month, Ben & Jerry’s, a Unilever-owned ice-cream brand, came out in support of same-sex marriages in Australia, renaming its Cookie Dough flavour to “I Dough, I Dough”.

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