Fagg’s, a New Zealand coffee company recently launched a billboard campaign with the tagline, “The Great Straight Coffee.” The ad also pokes fun at the predominantly gay Auckland suburb Ponsonby. Complaints call the ad campaign “overtly homophobic.”
Fagg’s Coffee Marketing Manager James Ford dismisses the complaints claiming the word “straight” is simply used to distinguish the brand from other coffee companies who position themselves as pretentious.
“We are straightforward,” he said. “What you see is what you get, and it’s common knowledge that there’s quite a lot of coffees that take themselves extremely seriously.”
While that may be true, the creative team knew what they were doing on this one and knew they’d gain attention for it. Which, of course, is the whole purpose of advertising.
