Cheeky coffee advert lands company in hot water

Fagg's Coffee is in hot water over a billboard advertisement that has upset some members of the gay community.

The advertisement featuring entertainer Gary McCormick having a laugh over a cup of coffee says: "Not as Ponsonby as the name suggests. The great straight coffee."

Fagg's say the controversy is a storm in a coffee cup but the Advertising Standards Complaints Board has received several complaints in the past week.

Board deputy secretary Heather McKenzie said several people had complained the advertisement was "overtly homophobic".

Complainants claimed the advertisement was offensive because Ponsonby conjured images of New Zealand's most famous gay suburb.

The word "straight", used with the brand name Fagg's, insinuated a slur on gay men, they said.