Protestors gathered outside Hells Pizza on Quay Street in Auckland last week as a response to the company’s latest advertising campaign.
Described as blatantly racist by anti-racist group Socialist Aotearoa, the new campaign cheekily parades a Pacific Islander about to take a huge bite out of the new Hells Pizza gluten-free brownie, suggesting “At least our brownie won’t eat your pet dog”.
The 20-strong protest demanded for an end to the campaign, as according to protest organiser Tania Lim: “…such advertisements legitimise the negative stereotypes of people of colour, be we brown, yellow, or black.”
Picketers were satisfied when a marketing representative from Hells Pizza apologised profusely for the slogan and admitted it was indeed racist, subsequently handing out free pizza to quieten everyone down.
Despite the protest groups’ well-intentioned attempts to combat the acceptance of racism in advertising such as this, Hells Pizza has since printed a whole set of staff t-shirts sporting the logo and thus will continue its campaign regardless of allegations of racism.