Jolly Rancher, the popular hard candy, released an ad that seems to contain a prison rape joke.
The ad is part of an ongoing campaign with the unfortunate (but probably intentional) slogan #KeepOnSucking.
When you lend a friend your password and then they do the same. Over and over and over… #NetflixNChill #Netflix #KeepOnSucking pic.twitter.com/Lp46DS0D2a
— JOLLY RANCHER (@Jolly_Rancher) January 21, 2017
When winter weather eats your weekend… #KeepOnSucking pic.twitter.com/NZFCDVhIkN
— JOLLY RANCHER (@Jolly_Rancher) January 27, 2017
Bold Watermelon flavor that lasts a lifetime. #JollyRancher #KeepOnSucking pic.twitter.com/cFhspuweG9
— JOLLY RANCHER (@Jolly_Rancher) January 23, 2017
We’re going to assume that the people behind the ad campaign are legally adults and thus aware of the implications of the phrase “Keep on sucking.” And we’re not going to fault them for making sexual innuendo.
But this ad, intentional or not, has some extremely unfortunate implications. “Get busy sucking or get busy dying” sounds like a sexual threat. We’re not really sure what, other than sexual assault, the ad is even supposed to be about. Maybe the idea is to eat the candy in order to escape?
At any rate, most Twitter users thought the ad was completely bonkers.
@Jolly_Rancher is that jolly rancher soliciting oral sex from fellow prisoners with death threats?
— Kevin Phelan (@KPhed) January 28, 2017
@Jolly_Rancher pic.twitter.com/WSld9aZcTW
— yung snelly (@snaxchamp) January 28, 2017
@Jolly_Rancher someone approved this.
Why would someone approve this?— Ron Welch (@RealRonJon) January 27, 2017
Even other processed foods were taken aback by the ad. Totino’s Pizza Rolls had this to say:
@Jolly_Rancher jolly rancher I think you should take a nap.
— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 28, 2017
Sexual innuendo is one thing, but prison rape is a serious matter that Americans take far too lightly. At any rate, it’s an awful way to sell candy. This ad sucks.
