Thai ice cream company apologizes for gay slur in post to mark US same-sex marriage ruling
The Unilever-owned company was criticized for choosing to feature its black bean-flavored ice cream which is linked to a locally used derogatory term for gay men
30 June 2015 | By Sylvia Tan
Image: Twitter (#RIPWallsThailand)
The Thai unit of Walls, an ice cream company owned by Unilever, has apologized for using a derogatory term for gay men in a Facebook posting with the caption #LOVEWINS posted a day after the US Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage.
The company has since removed the post on the Facebook page of Wall's Thailand which showed a stick of black bean-flavored ice cream with the popular rainbow filter overlay.
'Black beans' is however a derogatory term for gay men that originated from a well-known pedophilia case in Thailand.
The image, which was quickly shared on social media, was roundly criticzed with commenters calling it 'low' and 'discriminatory.'
The company apologized on Sunday saying they were 'sorry if the post created some misunderstanding’ and that they ‘did not mean to cause discomfort to anyone.'
The image has since been replaced the post with a new picture of rainbow-colored ice cream.
Wall's parent company Unilever also owns Ben & Jerry's ice cream which is widely known to be a longstanding corporate champion of marriage equality and LGBTI rights