A restaurant chain’s campaign to publicise its “Lust” pizza for meat lovers — one of a range of pies representing the seven deadly sins — by delivering condoms to homes across New Zealand has attracted widespread wrath.
The campaign by Hell’s Pizzas has become the most complained about in the country, topping a 1990s advertisement that denigrated line-dancing, an advertising watchdog said.
“The main issue people have is the method of delivery — the fact that the promotion was a condom and it was delivered to people’s letterboxes,” Advertising Standards Authority boss Hillary Souter said on Tuesday.
A pamphlet advertising the Lust pizza contained a condom and detailed instructions on how to use it. Parents groups and the Catholic Church were among those to voice anger about the advertisement.
Hell’s Pizzas is promoting pies for each of the seven deadly sins — lust, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, envy and gluttony.
The company said the condom drops would serve a useful purpose if parents were encouraged to talk to their children about sex, given that New Zealand has the third-highest teenage pregnancy rate in the developed world. — AFP