A gay couple who suffered homophobic abuse after appearing in a McCain’s TV advert will no longer feature in the campaign.
Lee and Mat Samuels-Camozzi, from Cheshire, appeared in the advert with their baby earlier this month.
Last week the couple said they had received dozens of abusive comments on social media, including one person who called them “sick”.
A spokesman for McCain’s confirmed on Friday that the pair would no longer feature in the campaign after the 60-second advert’s run came to an end.
The new 30-second version of the advert, which replaces the original, does not feature the couple. McCain’s spokesman said it had been made before the 60-second version aired.
The McCain’s spokesman said the decision to not include them in the shorter version was “absolutely not” connected to the social media backlash, about which the company said last week it was disappointed.
He said: “Our campaign is all about celebrating the diversity of family life and not everybody’s a normal family. There’s only so much you can say in 30 seconds. We’re still promoting them, they’re in the posters and we’ve got them on social media.”
The company said it had received overwhelming support for the “We Are Family” advert, which begins: “When it comes to family, what’s normal? Normal isn’t normal.”
It continues: “Grans who put you to bed and tell you not to believe in ghosts. Or maybe it’s dad who tucks you up. Dad. Daddy. Two daddies. Long-distance daddies.”
The 30-second version goes: “Grans who put you to bed and tell you not to believe in ghosts. Or maybe it’s dad who tucks you up. Daddy. Long-distance daddies.”
Lee Samuels-Comozzi who, with his partner, Mat, hugs and cradles their baby in the ad, said the abuse had left them disheartened, but that “for all the negativity we had lots of hugely supportive comments”.
• The headline and text were amended on 2 October 2017 to remove potential for misunderstanding. The McCain’s spokesman said that both versions of the 30-second advert had been made before the airing of the 60-second version which had led to homophobic abuse.
