A television advert for supermarket chain Somerfield has been banned after the word "faggot" was used in reference to a traditional British dish.
The advert featured a husband complaining that his wife served up the same meals every week.
When she told him it was Friday so he was getting his usual faggots, he replied: "I've nothing against faggots, I just don't fancy them."
Three listeners complained to media watchdog Ofcom about the radio ad, saying faggots alluded to homosexuals.
Somerfield insisted: "The ad refers only to food products. Faggots were chosen to demonstrate the idea because they are commonly perceived as an outdated and slightly comical product, not because of any allusions to homosexuality."
Faggots is a traditional dish of meatballs in gravy.
But Ofcom ruled that the term was "highly derogatory" and banned the ad from being broadcast again in its present form.
"Irrespective of the advertiser's denial of intent and the brevity of the campaign, we believed that the aired comment was likely to have been perceived at best as innuendo," Ofcom said.
"The phrase could clearly be seen in connection with homosexuality. As the term faggot, when used in this context, is a highly derogatory term, we believed that it was capable of causing serious offence."
I thought it was quite funny
The advert featured a husband complaining that his wife served up the same meals every week.
When she told him it was Friday so he was getting his usual faggots, he replied: "I've nothing against faggots, I just don't fancy them."
Three listeners complained to media watchdog Ofcom about the radio ad, saying faggots alluded to homosexuals.
Somerfield insisted: "The ad refers only to food products. Faggots were chosen to demonstrate the idea because they are commonly perceived as an outdated and slightly comical product, not because of any allusions to homosexuality."
Faggots is a traditional dish of meatballs in gravy.
But Ofcom ruled that the term was "highly derogatory" and banned the ad from being broadcast again in its present form.
"Irrespective of the advertiser's denial of intent and the brevity of the campaign, we believed that the aired comment was likely to have been perceived at best as innuendo," Ofcom said.
"The phrase could clearly be seen in connection with homosexuality. As the term faggot, when used in this context, is a highly derogatory term, we believed that it was capable of causing serious offence."
I thought it was quite funny
