Same-sex kiss Heinz Mayo ad leaves conservatives with a bad taste in their mouths, gets yanked

While Heinz was receiving kudos in the gay media for a rather clever ad ending in a same-sex kiss, the usual suspects were getting their knickers in a twist over the ad.

Bill O'Reilly brought it up on his show, where Bill-O yelled "It was obviously a gay thing! I don't know what the message is, other than gay people like mayonnaise..." and prompting guest Bernard Goldberg to call Bill-O "nuts". When both guests failed to see what was worth getting so excited about, the hothead pundit protested, "I didn't say it was terrible... This whole 'gender-blending' thing, it's confusing to me. I just want mayonnaise, I don't want guys kissing." (You can watch the full clip here. I think I'll bookmark that link for the next time Bill-O wonders why San Francisco threw a pink brick at him.)

However, the ad also raised protests in the UK where it aired. Nearly 200 complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority and it's likely to be one of the most-complained about ads of the year. As you'd expect, some the complaints are of the 'I had to explain that gay people exist to my children!' variety. (Interestingly, the ads aren't allowed to air during children's programs; not because of the same-sex kiss but because of the nutritional content of the mayo.)

Heinz has pulled the ads, citing the action as part of a policy "to listen to consumers." However, there is now a backlash to the backlash as one gay rights group, Stonewall, is now calling for a boycott of Heinz products in response to the ads being pulled, saying that Heinz had fallen for an "orchestrated campaign of complaints." I tend to think Stonewall is on the right track. I've experienced this kind of hubub from a marketer's perspective and had to take those irate phone calls; sometimes pulling a controversial ad is just a matter of trying to get the phone to stop ringing. Sadly, sometimes the only way to keep the squeaky wheel from getting all the grease is to squeak even louder.

Do you think the boycott threat is one that's warranted? Would you join such a boycott in the UK or even participate from outside the UK? Discuss it in the comments!