“Effing W*nkers!” Fury As Chocolate Ad Calls For No Fat Kids Or Redheads

“Effing W*nkers!” Fury As Chocolate Ad Calls For No Fat Kids Or Redheads
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



Swiss chocolatier Milka has found itself up the proverbial chocolate river without a paddle after a casting call for its upcoming Christmas ads specifically called for no redheaded or fat children.

The ad, posted by London-based acting agency Spotlight, called for a “beautiful and angelic” girl aged between nine and 11.

Posted on Twitter, the ad specified that the successful applicant could be no taller than “four foot four inches (1.3 metres)” and must have “soft hair”.

And then this clanger: “Eye colour and hair colour is not important but no red hair.”

Although it didn’t directly call out fat kids, the ad included the line, “She must be small and very childlike.”

Screen Shot 2019-08-13 at 10.15.57 am

The ad was quickly called out on social media, with actress and comedian Kathy Burke leading the attack.

“Well this is disgusting and a fucking embarrassment to our profession,” Burke railed in a tweet. “Imagine being the kids that don’t get the job – you’re just not beautiful enough I’m afraid, my darling, now off you pop and be riddled with insecurities for the rest of your life.”

Burke then signed off with “fucking wankers”.

And, as it tends to happen, the apologies were soon flowing thick and fast. Not only from Spotlight but also from Mondelez International (the makers of Milka).

A Mondelez spokesperson telling the UK’s The Daily Star: “We take our advertising responsibility very seriously and this is not representative of the brief we shared with the casting agency and does not meet our high standards.

“We would never approve the use of such a notice, and are urgently reviewing the situation with Spotlight UK to understand how and why it has happened.”

A spokesperson for Spotlight said that the “ad had slipped through the net” and “absolutely did not meet our high standards”.

“On this occasion we failed to meet our own standards and we’ll be conducting a full review to make sure we get it right in the future,” the spokesperson said. “We made a serious error and we should have done much, much better. We’re sorry.”

 

 




Please login with linkedin to comment

Ad campaigns Milka Mondelez

Latest News

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
  • Media

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm

Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
  • Advertising

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA  Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]