(London) We don’t joke about hot dogs on the London Underground.
Comedian Ed Gamble was ordered to change the billboard campaign for his new subway station stand-up show because the image of a hot dog violated an advertising ban for the junk food imposed by the public transport network.
The show poster Hot Diggity Dog showed a Gamble smeared with mustard and ketchup next to a half-eaten hot dog on a plate.
The baffled comedian replaced the sausage with a cucumber, and the poster was approved.
PHOTO JOE SENE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mr. Gamble, who is diabetic and co-hosts the podcast Off Menusaid he understood the value of the advertising rules, which aim to combat childhood obesity.
“But the new posters promote something much more harmful: the idea that cucumbers go well with ketchup and mustard,” he quipped.
Mr. Gamble does not complain about the additional publicity the case has generated.
“The posters are worth way more than they are worth today,” he told the BBC on Thursday.
Since 2019, Transport for London (TFL) has banned adverts for foods high in fat, sugar and salt on the city’s trains and tube stations, buses and bus shelters. The agency also bans ads that promote unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes.
“Following a review of the advertising, we indicated that elements needed to be removed or obscured to ensure compliance with our policy,” explained the transit operator. A revised ad is now running on the network and we are always happy to work with people to ensure ads follow our policy. »
Last year, a poster for the play Tony n’Tina’s Wedding depicting a large wedding cake did not follow the rules. TFL ordered the cake to be removed from advertising.
This advertising policy aroused the ire of the British tabloid press, The Sun denouncing the “killjoy bosses of TFL”.