Earlier this year, Cadbury released an advert to celebrate the Creme Egg’s Golden Goobilee aka, our favourite fondant-stuffed egg’s 50th birthday. The advert showcased a number of different ways to enjoy Creme Eggs – you can lick them, bake with them, dip them, and share them. But unfortunately, the final option has offended a number of people and a petition has been launched to ban the advert.
In the advert, real life couple Callum Sterling and Dale K Moran share a Creme Egg by both biting it at the same time. But because Callum and Dale are gay, 25,000 people have decided the advert should be banned.
The petition to remove the advert says: “By choosing to feature a same-sex couple, Cadbury’s are clearly hoping to cause controversy and escape criticism, by claiming that any objections must be rooted in ‘homophobia’, but members of the LGBT community have also expressed their dislike of this campaign.
“Cadbury’s should not be seeking to hide under cover of LGBT rights to conduct a campaign which sexually objectifies individuals. If the couple in question were heterosexual, the advertisement would likely be prohibited, given the sexually explicit and graphic nature of the kiss.”
Catholic campaigner Caroline Farrow, who is running the petition, told Premier Christian News: “A kiss can take many forms; this is not a mere peck on the cheek or familial show of affection but rather two adults snogging, using their lips and tongues to exchange the contents of a Creme Egg in an extremely sexually suggestive fashion.
“It is gross and off-putting, regardless of the sex of the participants and given the overtly sexual nature of the kiss, would likely to be banned or censured if the couple were straight. The advert goes further than many soap operas.”
Cadbury has now responded to the petition.
In a statement emailed to Ad Age, Cadbury said: “Cadbury has always been a progressive brand that spreads a message of inclusion, whether it is through its products or brand campaigns. We are proud of our Golden Goobilee advert which celebrates the many ways that everyone can enjoy a Cadbury Creme Egg. To illustrate this and showcase the joy our products bring, a clip of a real life couple sharing a Cadbury Creme Egg was included in the advert.”
And, on the subject of whether the advert was filmed following Covid-related government guidelines, Cadbury responded: “The actors featured in the film were from the same household, so they were egg-static to share a delicious Cadbury Creme Egg together! We also ensured that social distancing and stringent hygiene measures were taken when shooting the new advert.”
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After the advert received negative feedback almost straight away, Callum took to social media to share his disappointment at the criticism.
He wrote, “So it’s OK when an advert sexualises a woman… to benefit the male gaze and make other women feel inadequate if they do not live up to this beauty standard.
“But it’s not OK, in 2021, to have an advert of a multi-racial (strike one) gay couple (strike two) on your screens for 10 seconds (strike three) eating/kissing/sexualised (strike four). Does anyone see how ridiculous this is? Like actual LOL.”
He added: “I’m so so happy that @dalekcreative and I ended up being the faces for this moment as I’ve been in the dance industry for 11 years full time and let me tell you, THAT, alongside living in London as well as being an out queer and proud human is enough to make my skin so thick that I genuinely don’t feel once ounce of hurt from any negative comments being put out into the world as a result of the advert with @cadburyuk that we shot a few weeks ago.
“I’m super happy this has all happened. The love we have received totally outweighs the fear based negative comments. Makes me proud to live in the UK and to have so much love in my life.”
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