Mars Inc., Wrench - Super Bowl
Two blue-collar male archetypes are working under the hood of a car when one produces a Snickers bar from his front pocket and lets it hang from his mouth cigar-style. He proceeds to consume the candy bar hands-free like it's an oversized spaghetti noodle.
Reminiscent of Lady And The Tramp, one of the two mechanics notices the other's peculiar method of consumption and is tempted to bite the other end of the candy bar until he meets his friend for an inevitable "kiss" mid-Snickers.
Stunned, the two men step far away from each other, and one of them says, "I think we just accidentally kissed." The other responds, "Quick! Do something manly!"
One of the men clubs the other in the gut with a long wrench, and he gets his retribution when the other mechanic slams the hood of the car over his torso. They are clearly in pain.
This is one of three alternate versions of an that ad premiered during the 2007 Super Bowl, and all four ads were available via the company's website. The site allowed users to vote on their "most satisfying" outcome, and this version was in third place.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued a press release insisting that Snickers pull the campaign, and the company responded by pulling the ads from their website.
The ad has been panned by critics, including an article by Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! Sports and a commentary by Bob Garfield at Advertising Age.
The ad earns a Negative rating because it suggests that accidental contact between two men of the same sex warrants violent behavior in order to assert the authenticity of one's heterosexuality.
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Dear Ms. Parker:
Thank you for your reply. "Humor is highly subjective" and “the majority of viewers enjoyed the ad”—I suppose, for example, some people find it simply hilarious to put a cat in a microwave oven and turn it on. No matter what it is still wrong, wrong, WRONG.
In your letter, in the paragraphs above your name, you offer as Mars’ explanation that many people find humorous two men beating each other senseless because one or the other, or both may be perceived as possibly gay.
Even children know to acknowledge their mistakes, take responsibility for their actions, APOLOGIZE, and make appropriate amends whenever it is possible.
I find it shocking that the Mars family of companies cannot manage even a simple APOLOGY for what I had hoped was simply an egregious error of judgment, much less to offer penitence. I'd expect better of a six year-old!
Ms. Parker, I think we can rule out that you are a decent person and that you work for a company with a gram of conscience. I'm sorry to realize by your response the true depths of the entire Mars family’s corporate depravity and lack of responsibility.