Snickers 'mechanics' ad on YouTube. Snickers 'messenger' ad from YouTube.______________
After being condemned by national LGBT organizations, Snickers has pulled its special Super Bowl ads off the air and taken down its Web site.
Following the big game, many gay viewers of the now much-talked-about Super Bowl Snickers ad didn't exactly know what to make of the spot, but national organizations were furious.
The ad that aired during the Super Bowl ( lost by the Chicago Bears to the Indianapolis Colts ) opens with two mechanics working on a car. One mechanic opens a Snickers bar and starts to eat it. The other, who apparently couldn't resist the candy, starts eating from the other end, a la Lady and the Tramp. The co-workers end up meeting halfway and locking lips. After realizing they accidentally kissed, one mechanic suggests they 'do something manly,' which means ripping out their chest hair in this case.
While some LGBT viewers have said that they feel the ad is homophobic, others have suggested that the Super Bowl spot is actually poking fun of homophobic reactions to same-sex smooching. However, top national LGBT organizations have criticized the ad, calling it anti-gay.
The ad actually has three additional alternate endings, which were also featured on the candy maker's Web site until it was taken down late Monday.
MasterFoods, the parent company of Snickers maker Mars, Inc., issued a statement late Monday as well, stating the commercials would be pulled off the air, the Web content would be removed and the company didn't mean to offend anybody.
All of the ads begin the same, and result in the co-workers locking lips. In the first alternate take, titled 'Love Boat,' a third mechanic enters the room and asks, after sweeping back his greasy locks, 'Is there room for three on this love boat?' In the second and third alternate spots, the mechanics again try to do something 'manly.' In one spot, they drink motor oil and windshield wiper fluid. In the 'Wrench' take, one mechanic hits the other with a wrench, and the other slams his buddy's head with the hood of the car.
Many gay organizations think that Snickers is nuts for running the ad and featuring the extras on its site. Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) President Joe Solmonese said in a statement that ' [ t ] he makers of Snickers and its parent company at Mars should know better. If they have any questions about why the ad isn't funny, we can help put them in touch with any number of GLBT Americans who have suffered hate crimes.'
HRC is particularly upset at video clips on the Snickers Web site that feature negative reactions to the ad from Bears and Colts players, and the two mechanic's violent reaction in the 'Wrench' alternative ending.
The Commercial Closet Association ( CCA ) gave three out of the four Snickers ads a negative rating. The only one that received an equal rating was the 'Love Boat' alternate ending. The other three commercials go against the organization's Best Practices dos and don'ts. For example, CCA feels that the ads use gay people as a device to humor and— in the examples of the football player's reactions on the Web site—shock and disgust, as well.
'We don't judge commercials,' Mike Wilke, executive director of CCA, told Windy City Times. ' [ However, ] it doesn't meet our Best Practices guidelines. It deals with homophobia as a source of humor. … Advertisers aren't adding to sales by adding this type of humor,' he said, adding that the organization is in the process of studying advertisers' use of homophobia as a source of humor.
For example, Wilke said just before Snickers took the Web site down, people were casting their vote for their favorite commercial. The 'Love Boat' was coming in second. Voters' first choice was the one featuring the men drinking motor oil to overcompensate for the kiss.
All four commercials can still be found at CommercialCloset.org .
Both the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) and the Matthew Shepard Foundation issued a statement condemning the ads. 'That Snickers, Mars and the NFL would promote and endorse this kind of prejudice is simply inexcusable,' said GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano. 'I am outraged that Mars, the NFL and these players would promote such an anti-gay message, said Judy Shepard, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. 'This campaign encourages the same type of hate that led to the death of my son Matthew. It essentially gives 'permission' to our society to verbally or physically harass individuals who are gay, lesbian or bisexual. In particular, I am dismayed that these players, who are role models to our young people, would participate in perpetuating such discrimination and prejudice.'
Some have snickered at the ad, and are annoyed at how some gay leaders are labeling the ad as homophobic. Cyd Zeigler, Jr., of Outsports.com writes, 'This ad is not remotely gay-bashing. The point of the reaction of the men was so ridiculous that it made the reaction of straight men to homosexual contact the butt of the joke, not the kiss itself.'
Blogger Andy Towle of Towleroad.com wrote that he wasn't particularly offended by the commercial, 'mainly because it makes the mechanics out to be social Neanderthals.' However, Towle was upset by the Snickers Web site, particularly the extra content of players from the Bears and Colts reacting to the commercials. 'If you want to know why a football player in the NFL might be hesitant to come out of the closet, take a look at the players' reactions to the kiss.'
