Coca-Cola has defended its decision to
remove a gay wedding scene from its latest advertising campaign in
Ireland.
Coke's Reasons to Believe
commercial features a chorus of young people singing Florence + The
Machine's 2009 hit single You've Got the Love as images of bad
things happening are contrasted with good things.
“For every display of hatred ...”
is superimposed over video of a mob scene, followed by “there are
5000 celebrations of love” over video of 2 handsome men holding
hands and smiling on their wedding day surrounded by family and
friends. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The ad is currently playing in Britain
and across Europe.
But the version playing in Ireland
replaces the men with a heterosexual couple.
“The wedding images used in the ad
for the UK and in other parts of Europe show two men getting
married,” a Coke spokeswoman is quoted as saying by the UK's
Mirror.
“The reason this was changed for Ireland is while civil
partnership for gay people is legal, gay marriage currently is not.
We wanted each ad to be relevant and valid for its own market.”
(Related: Ireland
voters to decide gay marriage in 2015.)