Over 25,000 sign homophobic petition to remove gay kiss from Creme Egg advert

19 February 2021, 11:22

Gay kiss in Creme egg advert was deemed so offensive 20,000 religious people signed a petition

By Jazmin Duribe

The petition says the advert is "sexually explicit" and "graphic"...

A truly ridiculous petition to ban the Cadbury's Creme Egg advert, which features two men kissing, has reached over 25,000 signatures.

The campaign launched in January in celebration of Creme Egg's "Golden Goobilee" and featured real-life couple Callum Sterling and Dale K Moran. In the ad, Callum and Dale are spinning around whilst holding hands, before they both take a bite from each end of a Creme Egg and the gooey centre spills out.

Whilst many praised Cadbury's for being inclusive, others are offended by having the "highly-charged sexually provocative act" on screen. Right…

READ MORE: Over 100,000 people sign petition to end Britney Spears' conservatorship

Over 25,000 people have called for the "disgusting and off-putting" ad to be removed from all platforms on campaigning website CitizenGO because it's deemed as being offensive to Christians.

The petition reads: "By choosing to feature a same-sex couple, Cadbury’s are clearly hoping to cause controversy and escape criticism, by claiming that any objections must be rooted in 'homophobia', but members of the LGBT community have also expressed their dislike of this campaign. Cadbury’s should not be seeking to hide under cover of LGBT rights to conduct a campaign which sexually objectifies individuals.

"If the couple in question were heterosexual, the advertisement would likely be prohibited, given the sexually explicit and graphic nature of the kiss. Cadbury’s are well aware of the religious significance of Easter. Therefore, they are trying to cause gratuitous offence to members of the Christian community during the most important feast in their calendar."

The petition then equates exposing children to the "sexualised content" in the ad is similar to grooming – a common trope used by homophobic people. It continues: "Exposing children to sexualised content constitutes a form of grooming. It is well-known that children will often copy what they see on the screen."

Sadly, both Dale and Callum predicted the ad would be criticised and responded to the homophobes in an interview with Attitude in January. "I think anyone who has a problem with the 'nature' of our interaction, it's a cover-up for the fact we are a bi-racial, same-sex couple – that’s what they're covering up by saying that," Dale said.

"It isn’t cool to be homophobic, it doesn’t gain support, and it’s a cover-up for an underlying homophobic agenda that perhaps they don’t even know they have."

He continued: "I think there's been a correlation made between the kiss and children – that’s a consistent comment I’ve seen – this idea that putting this in front of children is going to somehow affect their behaviour. Our response is that we grew up as gay men in the '90s watching cisgender, heteronormative narratives throughout our entire childhoods, and we’re still gay."

Callum then added: "I think anyone who’s gay or queer or trans can tell you it’s not a choice. People need to wake up and realise a commercial is not going to influence the sexuality of a child, full stop."

In a statement about the petition, Cadbury's said: "Cadbury has always been a progressive brand that spreads a message of inclusion, whether it is through its products or brand campaigns. We are proud of our Golden Goobilee advert which celebrates the many ways that everyone can enjoy a Cadbury Creme Egg. To illustrate this and showcase the joy our products bring, a clip of a real life couple sharing a Cadbury Creme Egg was included in the advert."