Cadbury Egg Gets Creamed: Petition Insists Commercial Featuring Gay Men is 'Selling Sex to Children' - Bock Bock!

Remember the Cadbury Egg?

I do — who can forget that bock-bocking bunny?

Those were the old days — when corporations didn’t insert themselves into politics, and you could buy batteries without giving your phone number or knowing which candidate both the manufacturer and retailer endorsed.

Speaking of messaging, Cadbury’s moved beyond the bock-bock.

In fact, they’re in the midst of a bocklash.

In the words of the New York Post, the British candy company’s “getting creamed.”

Apparently, an irate audience surmises it’s “selling sex to children.”

That’s been made obvious by an online petition.

It all concerns a brand new commercial celebrating the crowned Creme Egg’s 50th anniversary.

An exuberant narrator exclaims, “It’s the Creme Egg Golden Goobilee!”

Cut to: a montage of many ways one can consume a Cadbury Egg.

An APB goes out:

“Calling all eggsibitionists: Let the eatertainment begin!”

The gallery of gobblers:

Lickers

Bakers

Eggsperts

Dippers

Discreaters

Lastly: Sharers.

As it turns out, one way an egg can be enjoyed is between the mouths of two men.

Bock bock.

From the Post:

[I]t’s the money shot at the end of the video that has viewers clutching their pearls, depicting two men passing the sweet treat to one another in their lips before bursting the egg and its creamy contents.

The narrator announces, “Sharers! Yeah, we are down with that.”

But some are up — in arms.

Over 26,000 signatures at CitizenGo aim to crack the egg.

By choosing to feature a same-sex couple, Cadbury’s are clearly hoping to cause controversy and escape criticism by claiming that any objections must be rooted in “homophobia,” but members of the LGBT community have also expressed their dislike of this campaign.

A holiday connection doesn’t help:

Cadbury’s is well aware of the religious significance of Easter. Therefore, they are trying to cause gratuitous offense to members of the Christian community during the most important feast in their calendar.

The petition wraps up thusly:

Exposing children to sexualized content constitutes a form of grooming. It is well-known that children will often copy what they see on the screen.

Nonetheless, the Egg remains unmoved.

It hatched a defense in AdAge:

Cadbury has always been a progressive brand that spreads a message of inclusion, whether it is through its products or brand campaigns. We are proud of our Golden Goobilee advert which celebrates the many ways that everyone can enjoy a Cadbury Creme Egg. To illustrate this and showcase the joy our products bring, a clip of a real life couple sharing a Cadbury Creme Egg was included in the advert.

After some incubation, social media’s sounding off.

You might have heard of the Cadbury candy bar Flake — and if you haven’t, immediately run to the nearest British bistro and push one into your pie hole. It truly is “the crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate in the world.”

Apropos:

“I spent my childhood watching a woman in a bathtub fellating a Flake. Jus’ saying. #CREMEEGG”

I spent my childhood watching a woman in a bathtub fellating a Flake. Jus’ saying. #CREMEEGG

— Sue Perkins 💙 (@sueperkins) January 10, 2021

Another eggcuser what-aboutted immoral M&M’s.

People losing their minds over two men kissing over a creme egg but have no problem with a woman cheating on her husband with an M&M? pic.twitter.com/sS0NpcUQyQ

— Jamie Jones (@JamieDMJ) January 10, 2021

And one critic shot down the ad because, well, he’s greedy:

I’m DISGUSTED by this. I would NEVER share a Creme Egg with my husband. https://t.co/uJtXNEm1mv

— Ian Eagleton IS AWAY FOR A WHILE! (@MrEagletonIan) January 10, 2021

It’s all quite the controversy.

The Cadbury’s creme egg advert with two men kissing is divisive and dangerous, because it promotes the unacceptable idea that you should be expected to share your creme egg with another person.

— Dan Beasley-Harling (@DBeasleyHarling) January 11, 2021

Meanwhile, Mondelez International — which owns the Egg — is also running interference on another front.

Call it a preemptive eggsercise:

The actors featured in the film were from the same household, so they were egg-static to share a delicious Cadbury Creme Egg together! We also ensured that social distancing and stringent hygiene measures were taken when shooting the new advert.

Cadbury defends ad featuring gay couple sharing Creme Egg, after a Twitter storm https://t.co/emMdUulaSY

— Squarepunk (@aSquarepunk) January 24, 2021

The ad world’s changing. If you doubt it, see here.

Will Cadbury’s commercial help or hurt?

Only time will tell whether there’s egg on their face.

In the meantime, engoy the Goobilee: