‘Soy bean suicide’ ad pulled after Ad Standards ruling

Hal Crawford

May 9, 2025 9:54

An ad from a Melbourne soy milk company that depicts soy beans happily jumping into a blender has been taken off catchup video services after Ad Standards ruled it could be interpreted as condoning suicide.

A Community Standards panel ruled the “Happylandia” ad from Happy Happy Foods breached the AANA Code of Ethics in a judgment that carefully considered the fate of the animated soy beans.

The blender scene

The premise of the ad, from Melbourne creative shop 10 Feet Tall, is that the soy bean inhabitants of Happylandia are happy to die and become soy milk.

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Hal Crawford

Crawford has worked across news media over a 30-year career, including running Ninemsn editorial in Sydney (editor-in-chief and publisher) and the TV3 newsroom in Auckland (chief news officer).

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