Cadbury chewed out over poster

Cadbury has been caught with egg on its face after pressure from dyslexics resulted in the chocolate maker withdrawing advertising posters for the New Zealand Comedy Festival.

The festival is under way in Wellington and Auckland but complaints have pushed sponsors Cadbury to remove posters that read: "10 out of 9 dyslexics prefer Crunchie".

Dyslexic Foundation spokesman Guy Pope-Mayell said Cadbury's attempt at humour had fallen flat and the posters misrepresented and trivialised what it was like to live with dyslexia. "You certainly wouldn't make comments like that about other groups who have a disability."

He said living with dyslexia was a positive experience providing "you haven't been eaten alive in the education system".

"Many adults with dyslexia feel a real sense of shame because their schooldays were hell. They were labelled lazy and unintelligent, which couldn't be further from the truth. That is where ads like this do not help. The insensitivity of it goes straight to the core of the potential low self-esteem."

He also said that although some dyslexics transpose numbers and letters, not all do. The main thrust of the condition is that sufferers use a different part of the brain to process information. "So not only is the poster insensitive, it reflects a low level of understanding about dyslexia."

Cadbury spokesman Daniel Ellis said the feedback led to the company immediately withdrawing the posters from the back of Auckland buses and bus stops.

"It is never our intention to offend any member of the public either through the products we sell, how we advertise them or through sponsorship of events. "We apologise for any offence the ... poster in question may have caused."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Remmy   #5   03:16 pm May 10 2009

CADBURY! .....Shame!!!

ALL the REST!......aer you awl reterded or sommink!?

Scott   #4   11:49 am May 10 2009

I'm dyslexic and it's funny.

Eddie   #3   09:51 am May 10 2009

Personally, I thought is was funny, but that is just me (and I am not dyslexic).....Clearly a sense of humour failure, it was harmless fun!

Bruce   #2   04:53 pm May 09 2009

Now, it is not possible to say anything or do anything without upsetting some poor sensitive souls.

I apologise for typing this.

Rick   #1   12:20 pm May 09 2009

Well, we've received the opinion of a humourless idiot, I wonder what dyslexics think about it?

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