Spain: After receiving backlashes and angry tweets by people, Snickers Spain finally removed a problematic and homophobic tweet. In return for this damage, they have issued a public apology. The 20-sec ad film was heavily criticised and condemned.
According to the Guardian report, in the ad film, Aless Gibaja, a Spanish influencer was seen ordering a “sexy orange juice” while his friend was puzzled by his behaviour and looks at the waiter. The waiter reacts by handling a Snickers’ ice-cream bar. After just one bite, Gibaja’s voice turns into a male voice. His friends ask if he was feeling better and the Gibaja’s responds, “Better.” The tagline beneath that read” You’re not yourself when you’re hungry.”
El REPUGNANTE anuncio PLUMÓFOBO de Snickers. pic.twitter.com/bxtgMHh44e
— Gato (@gamomena) August 4, 2021
People were mad at the company for promoting such baseless content in the name of marketing the new flavour. A lot of people rushed to Twitter to call them out and condemn them openly. Even the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals condemned the advert and tweeted. The tweet reads as “shameful and unfortunate that there are companies that continue to perpetuate stereotypes and promote homophobia.”
Es vergonzoso y lamentable que a estas alturas haya empresas que sigan perpetuando estereotipos y promoviendo la #homofobia y la #plumofobia. Si necesitáis algo de formación para la próxima vez, aquí estamos, #Snickers.
— Federación Estatal LGTB (@FELGTB) August 5, 2021
Irene Montero, Spain’s Minister for Equality was highly infuriated by this advertisement. She said, “I wonder who would think it is a good idea to use homophobia as a business strategy.”
Me pregunto a quién le puede parecer una buena idea usar la homofobia como estrategia comercial.
Nuestra sociedad es diversa y tolerante. Ojalá aprendan a serlo también quienes tienen el poder para tomar las decisiones sobre lo que vemos y oímos en anuncios y programas de TV.
— Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) August 5, 2021
Adding on to the cap of stereotypes, the use of pink colour was highly questionable too.
After running short of wits, Snickers Spain pulled down the advert and issued a public apology. They apologised for “any misunderstanding that might have caused”. The statement was posted online on the company portal and it read, “At no time was it intended to stigmatise or offend any person or collective.”
— Snickers España (@snickers_es) August 5, 2021
The citizens could not keep calm and rushed to Twitter to tweet out their dissent. Here are a few tweets of their reaction:
and doesn’t Spain/Barcelona have a large LGQT population… so Snickers intentionally targeted? Is this part of a great global authoritarian effort? See GQP right now.
— wheredkittygo 🧢 (@wheredkittygo) August 6, 2021
So @SNICKERS just produced a disgustingly homophobic ad in Spain in which a flamboyantly-gay guy is cured, and turned straight, by eating a Snickers bar. I am blown away at just how disgustingly bigoted this ad is. This is now the 3d homophobic ad that Snickers has done. 1/
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) August 6, 2021
Snickers Suggests A Bite Of Their Bar Can Make You Straight https://t.co/knLbhxm4W0 #commercials #NotFunny #Snickers #Spain #Homophobic pic.twitter.com/II2mVsPaWS
— Instinct Magazine (@instinctmag) August 6, 2021
As per the Guardian report, the spokesperson for Mars Wrigley, the company which literally owns the brand said, “We would like to whole-heartedly apologise for any harm caused by a recent advert for Snickers Ice Cream in Spain. We recognise that we got it wrong and have removed the online content immediately. We take equal rights and inclusion seriously, we want a world where everybody is free to be themselves and we believe that as an employer and advertiser we have a role and a responsibility to play our part in creating that world. We will take the opportunity to listen and learn from this mistake and do better in the future.”