British guacamole company defends ad portraying Colombians as 'drug dealers'
A British company that makes dips including guacamole has been slammed for an "offensive and upsetting" advert that portrays Colombians as "drug dealers."
Holy Moly released an ad campaign featuring the slogan: “Guac so good, it should be illegal”, which has also been featured on a series of posters as well as a video, which remains on its Instagram page.
The fresh dip maker, which sources and produces its popular guacamole and smashed avocado product in South America, sells it in the likes of Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in this country.
Holy Moly released an ad campaign which was met with negative reaction (Jam Press/Holy Moly)
Colombians are portrayed as "drug dealers" in the advertorial (Jam Press/Holy Moly)But in the advert, actors dress up as armed police and pretend to force their way into a home. Text across the footage reads: "A wave of Columbian export has hit the UK." The actors challenge an individual who appears to be playing a "suspected drug dealer" about items in his bag. Inside the bag, there is a collection of Holy Moly dips.
The guacamole dip, which is referred to as “Colombia’s purest export”, is handed out across London green spaces Clapham Common and London Fields in another clip.
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Furious customers responded to the marketing campaign, with some deeming it “offensive and upsetting.” Some have even threatened to boycott the company and insist on never buying their products again.
One said online: “Today I found out another advertising video showing two guys hiding behind vans with masks and duffel bags making an illicit transaction of what?
”Please stop - that is not funny, it's completely unacceptable, inappropriate and stereotypic that doesn't reflect my beautiful country and the people living there and working for you. Please show some respect and conduct serious and ethical market research before launching awful advertising campaigns.”
The slogan is featured on a series of posters as well as the video, filmed in London (Jam Press/Holy Moly)
Actors dressed up as police officers and challenge a 'suspected drug dealer' in one of the clips (Jam Press/Holy Moly)Another, called Sophie, said: “This is so disingenuous, you’re playing off the stereotype rather than challenging it in any way.” She added: “Capitalising on Colombia’s produce while caricaturing it is gross and I only hope you treat the actual Colombians you work with with more respect.”
One woman fumed: “This is perpetuating offensive stereotypes about Colombia and revictimising the countless people who lost their lives... Disgusted, never buying this product." "Reinforcing stereotypes,” said another customer.
Holy Moly’s managing director, Peter Oden, said: "To tackle a stereotype you need to change the narrative around it. We've highlighted that Colombia's Purest Export is Holy Moly's guacamole.
”At Holy Moly, we work with over 1,200 farmers in Colombia using their ‘wonky’ avocados - that would have otherwise gone to waste - to produce our creamy, delicious guacamole. We make, pack and ship from source to make the best guacamole product we possibly can - and through this campaign, we wanted to highlight our product's origin and purity.
”Our recent sampling activity brought joy to thousands of Londoners a few weekends ago handing out tubs of guacamole and they'll be popping up at festivals across the summer too."
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