BERLIN – An ad campaign developed in 2009 has come back to haunt the agency that created it.
German advertising agency Scholz & Friends, designed the ad, which shows a steak branded with the words ‘Tofu ist schwules fleisch’ (Tofu is gay meat) for restaurant chain, Maredo, but it was never used in public.
Der Spiegel reported that the ad had been hosted on the Art Directors Club Web site after the campaign won a silver prize in the competition. The picture has been displayed on the Web site along with other images from the campaign since 2009 without attracting any complaints until recently.
After the campaign had gone viral a spokesman for Scholz & Friends told Der Spiegel that the firm apologized for the steak advert saying, “We would not do that today, and regret that the feelings of homosexual people were hurt.”
The restaurant chain, Maredo, said the agency wanted to mock up ads for their restaurant to use in a competition, but that their own staff had not been involved or seen the ad.
