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With Ads of the Weird, MSNBC.com takes a look at some of the oddest, most eye-catching, controversial and just plain interesting advertising out there today. Primary writer Allison Linn covers the retail and advertising industries for MSNBC.com. The Ads of the Weird team is always interested in hearing what ads have caught your attention, whether it's online, on television or in print.


Snickers doesn't make everyone snicker

Posted: Friday, July 25, 2008 7:24 AM by Allison Linn
Filed Under: , ,

The makers of Snickers are pulling an ad after it failed to get laughs among gay rights activists who called it homophobic, according to an Associated Press report.

In the commercial, a man is speed-walking down the street when 1980s icon Mr. T comes barreling around the corner, firing candy bars at him and calling him a "disgrace to the man race."

The ad, which aired in the United Kingdom, ends with the tagline "get some nuts."

snickers.com

The AP says Mars Inc., which makes the candy bars, meant the ad to be funny, not offensive, and that's why they decided to pull it. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation said the ad used stereotypes of gay men.

Readers may recall that this is actually the second time Mars has pulled a Snickers ad because of accusations that it was homophobic. In 2007, a Super Bowl ad featuring two men accidentally kissing over a Snickers bar was yanked after similar complaints.

Click here to hear what MSNBC cable has to say about the latest controversy, or click here to watch the ad.

Update: Some readers noticed that a previous link to the ad had stopped working. We've posted an updated version.

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Comments

Of course it uses sterotypes,  That's what makes it so funny.   If Mr T was willing to do an ad like that then why should the Homosexual community be offended???

Bob (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 12:27 PM)

That ad is hysterical. I'm not sure why the gay community would be up in arms about it either. Unless they think that speed walking is gay. If that's the case that then speed walkers of the world should be mad at them!
Nothing to see here people...Move along.

Lord Sunder (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 12:45 PM)

Let's just stop everything. All together. All of it. What can you do anymore that doesn't offend everyone? Equal treatment is equal treatment. Not just the good parts. I had a girlfriend who used to scream "Women's Lib" at the top of her lungs and then pick a fight with me for not opening the door for her. Let's just do everything generically so we can get back to everyone complaining that they aren't represented. My head hurts. I want beer.

Joel Vance Halter, Melbourne, Iowa (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 12:54 PM)

It's getting to a point that to be socially acceptable, the only commercials that we will see will have just text, no video as there is always someone or group looking for a reason to get mad about something.  Freedom of speech no longer applies.

It's Funny! (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 12:56 PM)

Whaaaaa! I'm gay. Whaaaaaaa!

Gaylord Perry (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:00 PM)

Hot damn funny ad. I'm laughing my speedwalker tail off.

Haywood Jablowme (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:15 PM)

Snicker's! The name of that candy bar offends me! Give me money! I'm offended because it implies that I must laugh and snicker!

Stupid (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:20 PM)

Absolutely hilarious ad.  Special treatment isn't enough, these groups have to sue everyone for money and power too?  

John Doe, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:28 PM)

ad is entertaining and hilarious!  think i'll go eat a snickers!

greg, pinecrest fl (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:39 PM)

I'm gay, and I am not offended.  Who says that the speedwalker is gay anyway?  Some folks (gay, straight, and in between) are just too sensitive.

Jane of Sapphoville (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:39 PM)

"Special treatment," John Doe? Oh, yeah. You mean the gasoline I get for only $2.49.9 a gallon. And going always to the front of the checkout line at the supermarket. And I love that being gay, I'm allowed to park at meters without putting in quarters and to drive at 20 mph over the legal limit. Yeah, it's great having all the special treatment of being gay. Next thing you know, we'll be allowed to vote twice, too.

ralph baldwin (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 1:46 PM)

What the F.... Geez Mon !!!! its getting to the point where no one is going to say or doing anything because it might offend someone.....and who the %$#@ gave any of these groups (animal rights,pro gay..whatever your gripe is !!) so much freakin pull...one group starts belly aching and these companies start back peddling as if the whole world is going to crash down on them as if one particular overly sensative group is the final word on whats acceptable or not.....it's kind of odd.... the end of the ad says "Get some nuts" thats exactly what I think this company should do....tell those griping knuckle heads to take a stool softner and relax....they're not as important as they think they are !!!!

Spyder,the attic (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 2:05 PM)

The other day i felt like eating some Icecream, so i went to a fast food place and ordered a female sunday.
the order taker asked what is a female sunday? and i replied: a sunday without NUTS!! people who get offended so easily should grow up and get a sense of humor!!

just human ( i mean huperson ), harrisbueg PA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 2:18 PM)

I was with friends and relatives during the 2007 Super Bowl. Immediately after the infamous snickers kissing ad there was a collective "gross", "ewwwww" etc from the room. I haven't touched a snickers since.

David (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 2:20 PM)

Hey...check it out... a while back on TV there was this show called "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy"..and it offended me and I thought it was something that should be on TV....so do you know what I did......I DIDN'T WATCH IT !!!!.....brillant,eh ?

Hanover Fist (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 2:33 PM)

I totally agree that the "in thing" now is to be offended by everything. But come on, if you never encounter anything that offends you, you are not living in a free society.

However, comments about gays or any other minority being given "special rights" does nothing more than show your bigotry and ignorance.

Mark in Worcester, MA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 3:22 PM)

Homophobic? These people need to get a clue. There's a difference between "effeminate" and "gay." The speed walker's waddle is exaggerated, and he's got short-shorts...they're making light of the amusing (and effeminate) quirks of the sport...but he's not making love to, holding hands with, or so much as looking wistfully at other men. There is absolutely nothing "gay" stated or implied.

Three Dollar Bill, Northern California (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 3:22 PM)

The Gay community is wrong to target this ad campaign in my opinion.  There is an entire series of ads by Mr. T and Snickers which use the phrase, "Get Some Nuts." This ad is one of many.  Personally I find it very refreshing in an overly feminized climate which has overtaken many Western societies.

Sar Gone (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 3:26 PM)

Mr. T is the man and pulling the ad is stupid! I mean what year do we live in, last time I checked it was 2008 for pity sake.
I just downloaded Mr. T’s voice from Navtones.com for my GPS and I love it. But my question is, am I meant to get offended every time I make a wrong turn and he calls me a fool or something? On that note, I also got Kim Cattrall voice from Navtones, can I claim she is sexually harassing me when she says, “Lets just pull over and get in the backseat, thats bigger enough for us two, or maybe three”?
The Snickers ad is just an ad and with them pulling it, it’s probably getting more attention it would have if it just came out. (Pun)
“Get Some Nuts.”

Slipstream (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 3:26 PM)

Have you ever seen a movine called "PCU"...what's the deal people. Everyone is having fun, getting along, (tossing some meat), - who is that ad actually hurting? Try this on for size- I'm suing any company or person who wears pink- it offends me....or if you listen to Pink...or like triangles...or rainbows....you're offending me. ...Now I ask you- how f*@#ing stupid does that sound? Being gay is fine..... we know you're gay- yes we accept it....yes ...we are allowed to make fun of you as we do anyone else. Equality is served.

Over the whole thing.... (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 3:45 PM)

Relax, the people who take offense to that type of stuff usually play golf in storms, drive on ice, fly kites into power lines, run for public office...

Strype (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:01 PM)

I understand the notion of eradicating potentially hostile messages -- by the idea of what is and what isn't offensive has been totally skewed in recent years!  The word offensive shouldn't even be included in the rhetoric.  

Why can't people just take offense to things and ideas and then understand that it came from an ignorant source and move on?  Everything everyone says could be construed into something "offensive!"  To me, the line should be drawn when the message intentionally hostile or hateful.  If it's done for the sake of comedy, then it doesn't qualify as either hostile OR hateful!  

If you don't find it funny, isn't that punishment enough to the person trying to make you laugh?  Why punish them more?

Rude Crude Salty Dude (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:03 PM)

Gay people are not mad, gay activist groups are mad.  People make fun of men being less intelligent in every commercial but you don't see real men complaining.  

Mr Brownstone, San Diego CA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:14 PM)

I'm sick and tired of the whole PC movement.  I wish the whiners would just shut up and get a life.  It's a commercial for God's sake.  You can't do anything in this country without offending somebody.  But good for M&M Mars Corporation; the publicity they are getting from this will do far more for them than the commercial would have.  I'm on my way to Costco to buy a box.

Renaissance Boy (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:44 PM)

Come on ... I know America THINKS is owns the world ... but Mars an American candy-maker?  Don't tell that to the good people of Slough, which unless I missed something, is a few miles west of London Heathrow Airport where Mars made their candy for more years that I have been alive.  Snickers IS American. The candy bar in it's original form was a Marathon bar.  As for the ad, it's funny.  And as an ageing gay myself, I am not offended by it.  The 'gay' lobby in USA appears to be getting as daft as the 'anti-gay' lobby.

Mark, Birmingham, UK (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:48 PM)

As usual the gay agendists react to the notion that something not directed at their activities might somehow be perceived to show a gay in a less than ultra-positive and encouraging light.  There's nothing about the ad that clearly damages gays and it's a hallmark of the extremists that promote the gay agenda to target any instance of masculinity contrasted positively with immasculinity.  As a result of these sorts of attacks by gay agendists, the gay movement is  being planted right where its proponents don't want it to be: the butt of jokes.

Paul W. (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 4:58 PM)

I for one am sick and tired of every little comment, picture, phrase, ad, movie, or thought being held hostage because it might be offensive to homosexuals.  I'm sick of tip toeing around them.  I'm sick of them prancing around half naked and worse in parades and inviting families and "respectable" people to legitimize them.  In short, I'm offended by their presence.  Can I shut down their nasty, disgusting "parades" because I'm offended?

John Doe, Virginia Beach, Va (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 5:12 PM)

The idiot here is the one that decided to pull the ad because it offended some overly sensitive jerk. Oh wait, calling him an idiot is an insult to idiots. I'm sorry.

Wayne Mortimer, Fredonia, Wisconsin (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 5:25 PM)

I think people are missing an important point here.  Forget about whether or not the person depicted is gay....what about the crudeness of the message itself, "get some NUTS'?  

Yet another example of the tasteless vulgarity that is slowly trying to become an accepted part of our culture with its declining common decency values.

Diane, Brooklyn, NY (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 5:49 PM)

It's overly offensive because someone caught some feelings and decided that it was "overly offensive."  The commercial was making fun of masculinity, not homosexuality... big difference.  If we can't make fun of and laugh at OURSELVES, then we have no sense of humor... Sad.      

Jason, Seattle, WA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 6:18 PM)

I’m gay and I found it neither offensive nor funny. It thought it was really kind of lowbrow but, I can see how people could find the "nuts" homonym to be amusing. However, is no one concerned that the commercial makes light of throwing/shooting something at a pedestrian from a moving vehicle?

Mitchell from Seattle, WA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 6:27 PM)

Thank you "Mitchell from Seattle".  I haven't seen the ad, but I agree with you that that image seems to be much more disturbing.  Reminds me of the idiotic Burger King ad where the moms are out driving around and they see the King and speed after him in their car to try to run him down, screaming at him out the window, going up on the sidewalk and the whole thing.  Now THAT was disturbing. If you're gay, okay, that's cool, you sound like your're comfortable enough with yourself to not let these dumb things bother you.  Kudos!!

Marge, Oak Harbor, Washington (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 7:30 PM)

Um...I never heard a single reference to anything gay or homosexual.  I don't get it.

Derek San Francisco, CA (Sent Friday, July 25, 2008 8:27 PM)

People who think we go out of our way to be offended, or are touting a flag of PC goodness so broad you can never speak again are... ill-educated, to say the least.

Sure, I guess I can see a possible reading of this commercial - if I squint really hard and tilt my head to one side, and watch it backwards - that isn't ragingly homophobic. But even then, it is REMARKABLY sexist.

You need "nuts" to be a "man". Real men don't do girly things (like walking the wrong way). Feminine attributes are not only undesirable, but worthy of some big scary black man (which isn't a racist caricature at all) pulling a gun on you (invoking the already visceral image of infighting between minority communities, especially gays and blacks which is already a political sorespot) and SHOOT THEM.

Because depictions of violence are LOLtastic, amirite?

I fear for the future of this country.

Richard Quinn, Washington, DC (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:49 AM)

I don't really connect speed walking with being gay... Are all speed walkers gay? If so then ok. I see how it is offensive. But I doubt it! And speed walking looks ridiculous. I don't care if you are gay, bi, straight, or into animals. If you speed wal,k someone will be laughing at youm just cause it looks funny. And to have Mr T attacking the guy... funny stuff. People are WAY too touchy. Humor people... its because of reactions like this you don't see better comedy. Cause people are afraid of offending someone. We need to learn to laugh at ourselves and not take everything so seriously. The world would be a much better place!

Kate, Nashville TN (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:22 AM)

The best thing to do with these groups that get offended by stupid bull****(PETA, gay rights, etc..) is to send them to Mars with a shipful of Mars Candy products (preferably ones with nuts)and let the only thing they can watch on tv be what offends them the most. This whole country needs to ease up on being so damn serious about everything. That's why they need to legalize pot in every state. Got weed!

Nasty Nate, MKE Wisconsin (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:27 AM)

I believe the whole gay angle is a cover that mars is hiding under. I read somewhere that after the ad was on TV that mars found out that Mr. T was black and they pulled the ad. Where is Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson? I also read that the whole "Gatlin Gun" was a subliminal message promoting the use of weapons of mass destrution.

Charlie, Pittsburgh (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:38 AM)

There is nothing gay about this ad; the man is obviously a wimp, not a homosexual. Since the gay activists can't find anything else to complain about, perhaps they can start targeting AARP-style commercials that only depict heterosexual couples discussing health insurance.

Organizations need to realize that the more they complain about "offensive" media, the more paranoid they look. Eventually, We the Public just shut you out. Remember the "Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays" fiasco two years ago? People are tired of political correctness, an outdated movement that's petty and unnecessary in the 21st century.

Grant, New Orleans, LA (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:41 AM)

Remember, ANYTHING funny has some truth to it.  Being offended makes all of us who get it, laugh harder while simultaneously worry why you don't.

nathan, Placerville, CA (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 7:52 AM)

Clearly, the Brits don't have any nuts!

Scott (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:16 AM)

Dear practitioners of transformational activism. Why is it that we only hear about your petty issues in the world media? Why do we not hear about your involvment in lowering the HIV infection rates or the meth and X usage of your community? Its easier to focus on others than deal with your own problems. Maybe your collective, as well as ours, should move on to more important issues at hand.

Thomas, Dallas, TX. (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:25 AM)

Gay rights needs to chill its a bit ridiculous dont you think? I mean come on what ever happened to sarcasm? and the good old days of who gives a damn about anything. These days its all about money and power and gay rights has none if you choose to be different then do it on your own dont try to conform the world to unaccepted ways

A-Shack The Woodlands TX (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 11:36 AM)

I for one, found it "britishly amusing", but although funny, did not inspire me to go and buy a Snickers bar. I have enjoyed all the differing points of view- would that you would all cast your votes as vehemently! Politics would be more interesting that way.

Snickers4ever (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:00 PM)

Ridiculous! The ad is hilarious! Get over it! Snickers, get some NUTS and keep showing it. The masses do not have to "approve" of every ad. The candy sales are a great indication of mass approval, eh? If it offends you, simply turn the channel.

Granny (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:20 PM)

I am a gay man and I laughed my ass off. Any gay activists that say they are speaking for me better think again.

david, cleveland, oh. (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:28 PM)

When I was a kid, people made remarks about how skinny I was.  As a senior citizen I am now overweight and people now make remarks about that.  I am also bald, have dentures, and wear glasses.  All of which seem to be fair game for jibes.  BUT, I am what I am and if I don't like their comments then I can lose weight, etc.  This whole "I'm offended" thing has risen to the ridiculous.  

Darrell - Energy, IL (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:31 PM)

They should have just made fun of conservative christians.  That way it would be funny.  Anything that can be construed as making fun of homosexuals goes against freedom of speech...er...that doesn't make any sense, does it!

John, Thief River Falls, MN (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:11 PM)

No, nobody is concerned that it makes light of throwing something at a pedestrian from a moving vehicle. If you cannot separate what you see in a tv commercial from reality, there is no hope for you regardless of what commercials are pulled from the air or the countless other ways certain groups try to coddle and protect people from themselves.

(Un)common Sense (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 3:47 PM)

The only part of the ad that bothered me is the violence implied by machine-gun shooting (candy bars) at a defenseless person. There is NOTHING remotely humorous about that. It's disgusting and disturbing.

Diane, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 3:47 PM)

Our wedding was gay. We are heterosexual and "gays" are homosexuals. Get rid of the slang and perhaps the "PC speech" will go. I did not see the ad, but it sounds funny, but tasteless on the ordinary level -- but our entire society has been degrading.

Dan (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 4:33 PM)



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