The global companies Kraft Heinz and Unilever recently came under public scrutiny for advertising on Pornhub—a large, sexually exploitive, pornography site that normalizes themes of racism, incest, and violence against women.Â
Following initial public backlash, Unilever pledged to never advertise on a pornography website again, but Kraft Heinz initially declined to rule out future plans to advertise on porn sites. They also justified their ad choices, as one of their directors, Nigel Dickie, originally stated that the advertising placed on Pornhub was simply part of the Super Bowl campaign for their “DEVOUR” product line.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which is dedicated to addressing the harms of the full spectrum of sexual exploitation and abuse, including pornography, published an op-ed calling out Kraft Heinz for associating with a pornography site and launched a social media campaign for consumers to contact the company asking them to publicly commit to no longer advertising on pornography websites.
Two days later, after individuals from across America reached out to the company, Kraft Heinz is committing to no longer put ads on pornography sites. On November 6th, Kraft Heinz consumer relations emailed people who complained, stating:Â
“We are very sorry we disappointed you as that is never our intent with our marketing. Kraft Heinz has pledged not to advertise or promote any of its brands on Pornhub or other similar sites.”
https://www.facebook.com/centeronexploitation/videos/482391585707645/?notif_id=1573142861668000¬if_t=live_video_explicit
Statement by Haley Halverson, Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation:
“Kraft Heinz made the right choice to no longer partner with the pornography industry, and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation applauds them for this new commitment. When mainstream corporations normalize the pornography industry, they fund and promote its inherently sexually exploitive content. Not only does most mainstream pornography depict themes of violence against women, incest, and racism, but recent revelations also reveal that sex trafficking and child sexual abuse videos have been found on Pornhub despite its so-called concern for consent. Commercial sexual exploitation, in any of its forms, ought to be intolerable to our society which is why I am so glad to hear Kraft Heinz’s new policy.”
