Unilever, a company that manufactures and releases food products such as Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Becel Margarine, Lipton Iced Tea, Popsicles, and Skippy Peanut Butter, released an ad in South Africa that strongly suggested that learning your child is homosexual is as hurtful as being shot in the heart. A bullet featuring the words “uhh, Dad I’m gay”, was shown being projected towards a heart made of breakable, fine china. This ad was placed to imply that consumers of butter should change to a healthier alternative, such as Becel Margarine, to improve cardiovascular health.
Needless to say, this advertisement is very controversial and unethical from a business standpoint. Especially in a country that has legalized same-sex marriage, an advertisement like this is bound to create problems for the company and the community.
Unilever claims that nobody at the company approved the advertisement. In my opinion, Unilever should fulfill its ethical duties to rebuild its reputation, and continue to formally apologize, make changes in their marketing department, and continue with their new campaign on “Ben & Jerry’s” for equal marriage. The stakeholders, whether that means the consumer, company, employee, or offended citizen, have all been negatively affected by this situation. I believe that Unilever should own up to their mistake and hold themselves accountable to their loyal customers, who provide them with the sales base to continue operation.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/unilever-apologises-flora-advert-south-africa