The OOH advert by VML, displayed in London Underground stations, depicts a wedding where the bride – a black woman – is seated between her groom, his parents, and her mother, with no father of the bride present.
People on social media have highlighted the decision to have an absent father as perpetuating racist stereotypes.
Alexandra Ncube, co-founder and chief executive of brand strategy firm Atom Futures, said in a LinkedIn post that the campaign had “brought outrage to many”, writing: “While many may be oblivious to the blatant and subliminal harm caused by such an image, this serves as an important reminder for marketers and brand strategists to be aware of nuance and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes.”
She continued: “While family portraits are rarely picture perfect, let us be considerate of the plurality of modern-day family dynamics, particularly when it comes to inclusivity. Ad campaigns need to be respectful of a range of family structures - be it traditional, chosen, or those who have lost loved ones.”
Chris Lambert, head of strategy at Adobe, also shared the ad, writing: “This is a clean cut example of why diverse hiring matters in supporting your commercial goals.”
Lambert acknowledged that everyone involved in creating a marketing campaign won't automatically be aware of every cultural sensitivity, but that “you need to understand the cultural nuances you want to dabble in before you dabble in them”.
Other marcomms professionals and DE&I consultants have agreed that brands trying to reflect diversity in their campaigns should ensure that the communities depicted feel positively represented.
Simon Palmer, global crisis communications manager at Hitachi Energy, wrote on LinkedIn: “So many questions about how an ad like this got through the approval and sign-off process at company like Heinz, without people raising the obvious issue with it. And, if the issue was raised, then why wasn't it acted on?”
A Kraft Heinz spokesperson said: “We always appreciate members of the public’s perspective on our campaigns.
"We understand how this ad could have unintentionally perpetuated negative stereotypes. We extend our deepest apologies and will continue to listen, learn, and improve to avoid this happening again in the future.”
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