Kraft Heinz has waded into trouble on both sides of the Atlantic with two campaigns featuring (or not) black folk.
In the US it’s pulled an ad by Gut New York featuring a large black face, which some have said is redolent of minstrel-type “black face.”
Kraft Heinz US says: “As a consumer-obsessed company, we are actively listening and learning, and sincerely apologize for any offense caused by our recent ‘Smiles’ campaign. Although it was intended to resonate with a current pop culture moment (the new Joker film), we recognize that this does not excuse the hurt it may have caused. We will do better. We are working to remove the advertisement immediately.”
While in the UK this effort from VML showing a wedding party has been hammered for omitting (black presumably) dad.
A case of (not so) great minds thinking alike?
Kraft Heinz (again) on the VML effort: “We always appreciate members of the public’s perspective on our campaigns. We understand how this ad could have unintentionally perpetuated negative stereotypes. We extend our deepest apologies and will continue to listen, learn, and improve to avoid this happening again in the future.”
Is all this a touch de trop?
The VML ad is somewhat mystifying (are they suggesting black dads go missing? Or did they just run out of space?) It isn’t a great ad anyway. Some sympathy for Gut though. If you’re trying to reflect a diverse marketplace should some ketchup-laden expressions be banned?