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Mr. T branded a homophobe after candy bar commercial equates speed-walking with homosexuality

July 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks

I pity the poor politically correct fools that think a candy bar commercial featuring Mr. T is anti-gay.

The commercial for Snickers bars, which features T scolding a speed walker for not “running like a man,” has been yanked off of UK airwaves after US human rights groups cried homophobia.

According to the Daily Mail, “Mr. T pulls up in a truck alongside a man exercising in tight yellow shorts and shouts: ‘Speed walking. I pity you fool. You are a disgrace to the man race. It’s time to run like a real man.’ He then forces the man to break into a sprint by taking pot shots at him with a Snickers machine gun. The commercial ends with Mr T uttering the slogan to the current Snickers campaign – ‘Get some nuts.’”

200 people, including US protesters, called to complain about the commercial. Oddly enough, the spot has yet to air on American television.

The U.S. lobby group Human Rights Campaign criticized Mars – which makes Snickers – for condoning “the notion that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is a group of second class citizens and that violence against GLBT people is not only acceptable but humorous.”

Since when is it the business of the United States to meddle in another country’s source of ad revenue? The Mars Company should grow some nuts and tell those offended to shove their Snickers. Instead, a backpedaling spokesperson for the candy giant said, “We understand that humor is highly subjective, and it is never our intention to cause offense. Accordingly, we have pulled the Mr. T speedwalker ad globally.”

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