From WSJ Online
London's Mail on Sunday:
A chocolate bar advertisement featuring Mr T has been taken off the air after accusations that it is "homophobic."
In the Snickers commercial, Mr T--who played BA Baracus in the 1980s show The A Team--pulls up in a truck alongside a man exercising in tight yellow shorts and shouts: "Speed walking. I pity you fool. You are a disgrace to the man race. It's time to run like a real man."
He then forces the man to break into a sprint by taking pot shots at him with a Snickers machine gun. The commercial ends with Mr T uttering the slogan to the current Snickers campaign--"Get some nuts."
Only two people complained to Britain's Advertising Standards Authority about the ad. "However, it prompted strong protests from the U.S.--even though it was never shown on American television."
The Mail quotes gay Brits who were unperterbed. One describes himself as "fed up with the ultra-politically correct stance" of a complaining organization. Another says, "'I'm gay and I found the ad hilarious."
Should we despair that Americans are so much more humorless than the rest of the world? Or should we look on the bright side and appreciate how unwittingly funny the enforcers of political correctness are? We'll opt for the latter.
