Complaint American Beauty bacon disrespect slaughtered pigs dismissed
The ad watchdog has dismissed complaints a Primo Smallgoods bacon advert pastiching a scene from film American Beauty showed the food product in a sexual manner and paid no respect to pigs that were “sent to slaughter and died to produce the meat”.
Created by Ogilvy Sydney, the spot adapts the scene in Sam Mendes’ film where Mina Suvari is showered with rose petals while lying naked, with bacon replacing rose petals, and a man replacing Suvari. It ends with a woman’s voice interrupting the tranquil music and drags him back to earth where he is enjoying a bacon sandwich.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7KiVXhHKkI
A complaint to the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) read: “Disgusting, its offence [sic], it’s weird, it makes me feel uncomfortable and it’s a waste of food” while another argued it was disrespectful to the pigs, “I found that this was an offensive waste of meat to make an advertisement. I also found the content disgusting and vulgar. It also pays no respect to the pigs that were sent to slaughter and died to produce the meat for this advertisement.”
True. Children might see it, but they would be unlikely to have seen and interpreted American Beauty (a dreary pic in my opinion) in order to reference the alleged sexual angle.
Disrespectful to pigs? There are few things less respectful to pigs than bacon, but I think the little smiling pigs seen on many a small goods packet, and the happy little pigs in straw hats and striped aprons advertising Pork, are perhaps more disrespectful if you care to think about it, but then again, what is there to think about when a guy is about to attack a BLT or a bacon sanger?
I strongly doubt that there was any real bacon used in that fantasy sequence anyway (except for the bit in the guy’s mouth), so it wouldn’t have been a “waste” of bacon, let alone disrespectful, anyway. It must be great fun to deal with these kind if looney complaints at the ASB, really it must.