ROCHE QUITS MAPLE LEAF FOODS
By Adnews Staff
Roche Macaulay & Partners Advertising of Toronto has split from client Maple Leaf Foods because the company didn't want to use a black boy in a commercial for its hot dogs, according to a story in The Globe and Mail. Maple Leaf wanted to replace the black actor with a white boy. However, Roche Macaulay resisted the change because the spot was to be a spoof on a scene from Forrest Gump in which the black character Bubba went on and on about how much he liked shrimp. In the commercial, the boy would have talked about how much he loved Maple Leaf hot dogs. Maple Leaf senior vice-president Art Devlin told Adnews that the company liked the idea of having an enthusiatic kid talk about his love of hot dogs but didn't like the movie angle. The disagreement wasn't over a black actor or a white actor, it was over the creative in general, Devlin said. Agency president and creative director Geoff Roche was unavailable for comment. The assignment was turned over to another Maple Leaf agency, Harrod & Mirlin of Toronto. A TV campaign will be launched later this month that will still play on children's love of hot dogs.