22 November 2008
Cereal shocker no joke for sisters
17 August 2007
By Chelsea Burke: Te Waha Nui Online
An Auckland father is furious at what he says is an inappropriate joke his daughter found in a Hubbards cereal box.
The Clipboard newsletter joke in one of Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard’s cereals mentions pregnancy before marriage, free marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and AIDS.
Father-of-three Andy Slater says he nearly choked when he heard his 10-year-old daughter telling the joke to her seven and five-year-old sisters at breakfast.
“If I could have got hold of someone at Hubbards on Saturday morning they would’ve got a real earful,” says Slater.
The company has called Slater twice since. He says the callers were fairly apologetic and agreed the joke was not suitable for young ears.
Slater says he wouldn’t expect reference to sex and drugs to come out of the Honey Bumbles cereal because Hubbards’ marketing is very family-orientated.
“I’m not a prude by any stretch of the imagination. Believe me I’m no angel, but that’s not what we want in front of our children at that age,” he says.
“If that was in a movie it would have been rated PG or R16 or something like that. It certainly wouldn’t be family Disney stuff,” he says.
Consumers’ Institute chief executive Suzanne Chetwin says the Advertising Standards Authority would be the body to complain to.
She says she hasn’t seen the joke but “hypothetically speaking, I presume that Hubbards will be apologising”.
“I don’t know what the marketing manager was thinking when it was decided that it was appropriate to put those sort of messages in cereal boxes that may or may not be opened by children.”
Material is suitable
But Hubbards’ chief executive Doug Paulin is satisfied the material is suitable for a younger audience.
Paulin has children himself, as do the marketing and public relations employees who compile and “sanitise” the newsletters. “I can’t say it won’t happen again,” he says.
“The same Clipboard newsletter goes into all our cereals. There is no difference across the products.
“We thought the vein the joke was written in was one of humour and light heartedness. If children ask questions, the parents are there to explain.”
“Mr Slater’s complaint has been taken seriously and we will be looking at the future content for the newsletter.
“We have apologised to him for the stress it has caused him and his family and have offered him complimentary cereal. He declined our offer but is happy we’ve taken his feedback on board,” he says.
