Complaints against a Nestle ad showing a “yummy” male cook to promote condensed milk have been dismissed by the Adverting Standards Bureau (ASB), despite claims it is treating the man “as a piece of meat.”
The ad shows a man cooking in the kitchen without a shirt but with an apron on, with a display of sweet treats in front of him. The two female voice-overs comment on the spread, while the man lifts the head of the electric mixer and is splattered with cream.
Nestle called the ad a light-hearted parody of advertisements that use attractive women to promote products, noting: “while there might be an initial hint of a double entendre in the opening lines – with the women admiring our hero baker – it is soon apparent that the women are in fact talking about the lavish spread on the bench and the product being advertised and not the baker in the kitchen.”
However the ASB still received a number of complaints calling the ad “reverse sexism”.
“An advertising company would never use a woman in such a way, but for some reason... it's fine to objectify a topless man based on his looks and being 'yummy'”, a complainant said.
“He also spills the cream all over his apron possibly simulating an ejaculation shot from a porn movie.”
“As a middle age man that does not look like the man portrayed on the ad, who cooks with clothes on, and cooks to survive as opposed to cooking to entertain other people, I resent the portrayal of a man as a piece of meat.”
The ASB dismissed all complaints noting that it had previously dismissed complaints for similar parodies.
“The board noted the complainants’ concerns that it is sexist to use a man in this manner and that if a woman had been used instead the advertisement would not be aired,” the ASB said in its determination.
“The Board noted that its role is to consider each advertisement on its own merit and that addressing hypothetical alternatives is not part of its role.”
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