RICHARD
11-05-2008, 09:42 AM
Pizza firm scraps bad taste ad
A New Zealand pizza chain has withdrawn a sick Halloween promotion featuring Sir Edmund Hillary, Heath Ledger and the Queen Mother.
Skeleton animations of the deceased characters were shown dancing on graves to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
The promotion was for Hell's Pizza which apologised and said it did not mean to cause offence after the family of Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund complained.
"Clearly he's revered in New Zealand and we all love him," Hell's Pizza spokesman Glenn Corbett said. "The idea of Sir Ed being there was intended to be a light-hearted remembrance."
Last year, the firm showed Hitler in a Nazi salute with a pizza in his hand. Previously, it has distributed condoms alongside its 'Lust' pizza.
The firm's marketing director Rachael Allison said Hell Pizza was known for its controversial advertising and customers loved it. But she accepted it was not to everyone's taste.
Peter Hillary said the death of his father, who became the first person to reach the summit of Everest in 1953, was still "pretty raw" and the advert was not funny.
"I think it's disturbing... a little grotesque," he told New Zealand's Dominion Post.
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I don't have any punchline for this one. YEAH, I really do-But SEH was a hero of mine.
A New Zealand pizza chain has withdrawn a sick Halloween promotion featuring Sir Edmund Hillary, Heath Ledger and the Queen Mother.
Skeleton animations of the deceased characters were shown dancing on graves to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
The promotion was for Hell's Pizza which apologised and said it did not mean to cause offence after the family of Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund complained.
"Clearly he's revered in New Zealand and we all love him," Hell's Pizza spokesman Glenn Corbett said. "The idea of Sir Ed being there was intended to be a light-hearted remembrance."
Last year, the firm showed Hitler in a Nazi salute with a pizza in his hand. Previously, it has distributed condoms alongside its 'Lust' pizza.
The firm's marketing director Rachael Allison said Hell Pizza was known for its controversial advertising and customers loved it. But she accepted it was not to everyone's taste.
Peter Hillary said the death of his father, who became the first person to reach the summit of Everest in 1953, was still "pretty raw" and the advert was not funny.
"I think it's disturbing... a little grotesque," he told New Zealand's Dominion Post.
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I don't have any punchline for this one. YEAH, I really do-But SEH was a hero of mine.