A new TV advertisement for Nestle's Milo has got some LGBT viewers crying ‘homophobia', while others are wondering what all the fuss is about. Gay Hamiltonian Lewis Johnston has written to Nestle about the ad. “The ad playing on Sky television has a teenage touch rugby player scoring a try. He's congratulated and kissed by a girl, and then by a young guy,” he explains. “The voice-over then says ‘that's not cool'.” Johnston says he worries about young, gay and sporty New Zealanders – they should be proud of who they are, he points out. “Don't let these type of gender phobic ads say negative things to you that may stop you being yourself.” Since last week, the GayNZ.com messageboard has been a forum for debate on whether the ad is acceptable or not. “My view however is that It's clearly playing on the homophobic attitudes of some people and shouldn't be on air,” types one poster. Another says “it's a homophobic advertisement and should be pulled. What else can it be?” Other typers were less annoyed. “Is this REALLY the best we have to expend our efforts on?” asked one message board regular. Another opined: “it's not a gay kiss, it's just a guy kissing his mate and his mate doesn't like it. I don't think that it's homophobic anymore than children would go 'ewww, gross' at kissing each other were they opposite sex. “But saying that, it shows that media is getting pretty gutsy at pushing these boundaries and I think that we should beware that indeed soon same-sex kissing isn't portrayed as 'uncool'.” The ad is available to view on the Milo website (the link is below, it's the second of the two clips in the ‘TV ads' section). If you wish to make a complaint to Nestle about the ad, the contact details are: Nestle NZ Ltd 1 Broadway, Newmarket Auckland Phone: 0800 830 840 Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 20th February 2007 - 12:00pm