Magnum slammed for ad comparing ice cream to jailing gay people
Magnum launched a special rainbow-coloured ice cream celebrating LGBT Pride Month (Magnum US)
Magnum has provoked widespread criticism for a new advertisement that compares the “guilty pleasure” of an ice cream to jailing gay people.
The ad aired on the music streaming service Spotify and featured a voiceover of a man who can’t hug his partner for fear of being imprisoned.
Speaking in accented English, he says: “A hug for my boyfriend. That’s my guilty pleasure.
“Because in my country, just a simple hug with the man I love could send me to prison for more than 10 years.”
The ad stirred anger and confusion in listeners who felt the comparison was inappropriate.
@MagnumIceCream your advert comparing the potential to be killed if you’re gay to the guilty pleasure of eating a magnum is disgusting, racist and homophobic. Please withdraw it immediately.
— nell blane (@firegoat67) August 5, 2019
I know most of y’all probs have Spotify premium so don’t hear the ads, but really unsure about the Magnum ad that’s talking about homosexuality being a “guilty pleasure” in countries where homosexuality is illegal, like thanks for the awareness but also like not okay
— Kyle Flynn-Davies (@kflynndavies) August 2, 2019
uhh a magnum advert just came on saying about how this man could get arrested for hugging his boyfriend in his country then started advertising their ice cream ?? using real world problems to advertise your fucking ice cream ??
— ɢʀᴀᴄɪᴇ?? (@ggx828) August 2, 2019
Just heard an ad that (in short) was a guy saying “My guilty pleasure is a kiss. I like kissing men. Kissing men can send me to prison for 14 years in my country. Pleasure should never be guilty. Like Magnum ice cream” NOPE. NOT THE SAME MY DUDES.
— Jessica Wynn ?️? ♊ (@jesswynn93) August 2, 2019
An ad for #Magnum ice cream bars just popped up on my #Spotify and it is the cringiest/funniest gay baiting ad ever. A foreign accented man laments how dangerous it is to hug his boyfriend in his country, but he won’t get arrested for eating a Magnum! pic.twitter.com/S6WdzW9p51
— Christa Blackmon (@TheOdalisque) August 2, 2019
A Magnum spokesman defended the ad, saying that they “wanted to remind people that what is considered a guilty pleasure isn’t always what you would expect”.
Criminalisation of homosexuality
Same-sex sexual activity in some form remains illegal in nearly 70 nations across the world. In 11 of those countries, it is punishable by death.
The death penalty for homosexuality was most recently introduced by the country of Brunei, which declared it would be implementing a law that would punish gay sex with stoning earlier this year.
But following an international outcry, the Sultan of Brunei was forced to backtrack on this law.
