Coke’s “Love Is Love” Ad Campaign Got a Lawmaker So Mad He Started a Boycott

by Jeff Taylor

4m ago

Coca-Cola’s “Love is Love” campaign, depicting same-sex couples showing affection while enjoying a Coke, has proved controversial in Hungary, prompting a lawmaker and a number of media outlets to call for a boycott.

The ads, which are for Coke Zero, include the slogan, “Zero Sugar, Zero Prejudice.”

István Boldog, a member of parliament and a leader of the country’s ruling Fidesz party, took to Facebook to declare he would no longer consume any Coca-Cola products until they stopped running the ads, which he characterized as “provocative,” and calling on others to join him.

“The homosexual lobby is laying siege to Budapest, leaving no space to avoid this,” said right-wing news outlet Pesti Sracok, reports Euronews.

A petition urging local officials to ban the ads, which launched in Budapest this week ahead of the Sziget festival, has garnered tens of thousands of signatures, according to CNN.

“The Coca-Cola Company strives for diversity, inclusion and equality in our business, and we support these rights in society as well,” a company spokesperson said a statement. “As a long-standing supporter of the LGBTQI community, we believe everyone has the right to love the person they choose. The campaign currently running in Hungary reflects these values.”

While civil unions are legal in Hungary, marriage equality has yet to come to the country. Acceptance of gay people appears to be on the rise, however, with a study finding more than 60% saying they are in favor of equal rights, up from less than half in 2002.