A controversial Spanish ad starring a British soccer player has been yanked amidst accusations it was both homophobic and racist.
As Pink News is reporting, the commercials for multinational insurance firm Groupama Seguros feature Liverpool goalkeeper José Manuel Reina (known as Pepe Reina), dressed in full football gear, arriving at an African tribal meeting in a jungle with an interpreter.
Playing on the fact that the Madrid-born Reina's surname means “queen” in Spanish, the tribe’s chief reportedly tells the athlete, "You queen, me king," before crowning him with flowers.
Among those who condemned the ad was Simon Woolley, director of U.K.-based racial equality group Operation Black Vote. Wooley told The Guardian, "Firstly, how would the Spanish feel if the English stereotyped Spanish people as backward, stupid, and animalistic homosexuals? Secondly, what does this say about Pepe Reina?"
Though they agreed to withdraw the ad from Spanish TV, Groupama officials denied it was offensive, according to Fox News Latino. "Groupama Seguros does not consider that this advertisement contains either offensive nor any discriminatory content," authorities said in a statement.
Check out some of the best LGBT-themed commercials, many of them controversial, yanked or banned, below:
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