Comments on: “HOMOPHOBIC” FLORA AD GENERATES CONTROVERSY

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 08:41:13 +0000

In reply to denver. Not homophobic at all, the reaction to this advert is proof of how liberal and degenerate we have become. Homosexuality is by nature counter-productive and promotes anal-sex, which is unclean and spreads disease. Through liberal media and petty sensitivities, we have become conditioned to either accept or be attacked by the "I'm offended" hordes. A natural response to such news is shocking, because it is unnatural, and what is even more unnatural, is not being shocked by such news. In my honest opinion, homosexuality should not even be promoted, but treated as a hormone imbalance, which it is. No problem with this ad, good job Flora, for making our hearts stronger when being confronted with shocking news :)

By: Gerrit

Gerrit — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 21:17:10 +0000

I think it is offensive, I wish someone from Flora (Uni Lever) will comment here, but they probably won’t, because no matter what they sey they will be crucified from both sides.

By: Stoan

Stoan — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:11:54 +0000

We seem to forget that the ad was put together by a creative who, like the foot soldier in a war or the police officer walking the beat/confronting rioters, is not always thinking of the bigger picture of how his ad could be interpreted. I work with teams of white (Caucasian) creatives who come up with ideas that I see as totally un-PC…but I have learnt not to challenge such ideas as many a times even the black (African) clients have loved the idea. Who am I after all but a mere social scientist? The creative Zeitgeist does not sprout from me!
50 years ago it didn’t matter that the woman was depicted as a home maker or that gays were limp wristed wimps, that black people (even in the US) were portrayed the way they were. But we live in a different world today where every individual’s sensitivities are now given a platform on the internet. The creative agency could have been made up of bigoted homophobes intent on subtly bashing the gays that they are constantly told to be careful of. Or they could have just thought what family situation has the quality of causing dramatics and anguish while garnering humour all at the same time? Gay drama of course. The bullet could have equally been about a fat heterosexual being told the elevator taking him to the board meeting of his career had broken down and now he was in line for a stress induced heart attack (I hear all the stair master junkies snickering at the thought of them not even breaking into a sweat at doing 20floors like they do just to warm up) or about a white (Caucasian) man at a township House party suddenly seeing himself in the mirror and seeing that what he was doing was not as graceful as his black counterparts but looked more like an albatros trying to swim through an oil spill. But hey! How many people (not just creatives) ever think that stuations like these are back-slappingly funny AND also could be offensive? Do the few who see such ads or representations as funny sit back in silence for fear of being insensitive? Or does someone raise their hand and ask the question that might not have been asked or brushed aside in the creative process…
And of course those who worship at the alter of commerce will blame so many other factors when their brand goes into free-fall coz of course what’s a little tongue-in-cheek print ad that gets people giggling in mirth?

By: Jayem

Jayem — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:51:09 +0000

Danie, really? Ignorant much?

By: bowler

bowler — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 18:57:02 +0000

I don’t know any gay people who eat margarine. we have taste. And if the heart is supposed to be the father’s, I find it a little camp…. Overall they clearly tried to be way too intellectual here, if nobody can figure out exactly what the message is. Especially for a margarine ad. Margarine! good heavens

By: denver

denver — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 18:01:59 +0000

what do you expect from a backwards racist country?

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:56:16 +0000

It’s a print ad, Danie, all you have to do to see it is scroll up and look at the image. If you claim not to have seen it, that does rather beg the question of how you found it so funny?

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:19:59 +0000

Strange reading of the ad, Al. The heart pictured is obviously meant to be the father’s. Middle-aged men are at the greatest risk of heart attacks and margarine companies have invented a health benefit for their product (lowering cholesterol or some crap). The ad’s “humour” (yes we know it’s tongue-in-cheek Louis but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean we can’t consider what it means) is predicated on the idea that a son coming out is the sort of shocking news that could cause a father a heart attack. They are propping up stereotypes of dads, re-enforcing the status quo, the way all the worst advertising tends to do. Homophobic might be an extreme word, but it’s certainly thoughtless and unoriginal.

By: Danie de Waal

Danie de Waal — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:09:52 +0000

I am gay and find this funny. I think we should be careful that we do not become overly sensitive. I find the description of the ad funny, but I have not yet seen the ad.

By: Al

Al — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:35:44 +0000

I read the ad as being about the son’s heart – bracing for a reaction from his dad that could break his heart. If that’s the case it’s quite sweet and very sad. If that’s not what they meant, though, then it’s horrifically homophobic