I have to speak out about the disgusting TV ad promoting Calypso mangoes. Picture this…

A little old lady is shopping in a supermarket. She pretends to try to reach an item on a high shelf but can’t manage it. Why? Because she wants to distract a fellow shopper, an obliging tall man who has Calypso mangoes in his trolley. Why? Because she wants to steal from him.

I kid you not.

So when he turns his back on her to reach her item on the top shelf she steals four Calypso mangoes from his trolley and chuckles. To make matters worse, she tells him he is a nice man. So much for the storyline of this TV ad.

Impressed?

Well, I’m pretty turned off by the unethical behaviour of the old woman. She has stolen from the Good Samaritan. She depicts old people as being dishonest. She is certainly giving the wrong message to any child who watches this ad. And in my opinion, she makes me wonder about the ethics of a product that promotes such despicable behaviour.

Are the growers of Calypso mangoes to be trusted when their ad is based on theft? Who approved of this ad? Was it One Harvest itself which is showing it on its web site. Who has the final say as to what is acceptable to be aired on TV?

Or don’t they give a damn?

I, for one, do give a damn and will never buy a Calypso mango. It would go against my moral code.