Guacamole brand Holy Moly has been forced to defend itself after its latest ad campaign has been deemed “offensive” and widely criticised online for portraying Colombians as “drug dealers”.
The campaign, which played on drug culture and language, positioned the popular avocado-based dip as ‘Colombia’s Purest Export’ in a move which many have called “offensive and upsetting”.
The integrated ad campaign – which featured the slogan: “Guac so good, it should be illegal” – showed mock police raids on so-called ‘guac dealers’ who were then seen handing out samples of ‘Colombia’s purest export’ to members of the public. Text across the screen reads: “A wave of Columbian export has hit the UK.”
As part of the campaign, thousands of tubs of guacamole were given out across London, with a series of OOH posters featuring QR codes which invited the public to place an order for delivery. The posters featured the strapline: “Guac so good, it should be illegal.”
Video footage of the stunt was then posted to Holy Moly’s Instagram page, where members of the public responded to the campaign with threats of boycotts, asserting that the stunt was “completely unacceptable”.
One response said: “You’re perpetuating a really offensive stereotype about Colombia. Disgusted that an org such as yourself, trying to pass yourself of as ‘ethical’ would stoop so low. Never buying again.”
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Another said the ad was “perpetuating offensive stereotypes about Colombia and revictimising the countless people who lost their lives”, adding they they were “disgusted” and “never buying this product”.
“Please stop – that is not funny, it’s completely unacceptable, inappropriate and stereotypic that doesn’t reflect my beautiful country and the people living there and working for you. Please show some respect and conduct serious and ethical market research before launching awful advertising campaigns.”
Holy Moly responded to some of the comments directly online, defending both its initial stance and the nature of the guacamole campaign.
“It’s never our intention to offend and our aim for the campaign is to challenge the stereotype in a playful manner and to highlight why we source from Colombia,” it said.
However, this was met with similar derision, with one commenter describing the response as “disingenuous, you’re playing off the stereotype rather than challenging it in any way. And it’s not ‘playful’ if it’s punching down.”
Responding to the accusations, Holy Moly’s managing director, Peter Oden, said: “To tackle a stereotype you need to change the narrative around it. We’ve highlighted that Colombia’s Purest Export is Holy Moly’s guacamole.”
The controversial campaign was Holy Moly’s first work with creative studio Insiders.
“The brief was to create something with an air of rebellion and the unconventional about it that would set Holy Moly apart from the many other guacamole competitors in the supermarket,” founder and managing director, Josh Clarricoats, said at the time.
