Unilever has issued a statement distancing itself from an ad for margarine brand Flora and criticised as homophobic by various news outlets and social media users.
According to Marketing Magazine and The Drum Unilever issued the following statement (which has yet to make its way to SA it seems):”This advert was prepared by an external agency in South Africa and was not approved by anyone at Unilever. The advert is offensive and unacceptable and we have put an immediate stop to it. Unilever is proud of the support that our brands have given to LGBT people, including our recent campaign for Ben & Jerry’s on equal marriage.”
Unilever has also condemned the ad via its official Twitter profile.
@joburgreporter The ad was not approved by anyone at Unilever. The advert is offensive & unacceptable & we have put an immediate stop to it
— Unilever News (@Unilever) September 2, 2013
Image via @Scriblit
Fixed your advert for you, Flora! pic.twitter.com/uMWc4La2Gi
— Scriblit (@Scriblit) September 2, 2013
See Lowe + Partners criticised for ‘homophobic’ Flora ad
See Unilever calls Flora ads ‘offensive and unacceptable’
See Lowe + Partners apologises for ‘homophobic’ Flora ad