An advertising campaign for Fagg's, "the great straight coffee", has been cleared of being homophobic by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.
A billboard picturing television personality Gary McCormick enjoying a cup of Fagg's coffee under the slogan "Not as Ponsonby as the name suggests" was the subject of several complaints.
One, MBergin, said the ad was "seriously offensive" because it "exploited the fear that Ponsonby is full of fags".
However, the advertiser said in this context "straight" was the opposite of "pretentious", not "gay".
Ponsonby was known as New Zealand's cafe capital, but also for being "sometimes a bit pretentious".
A board minority believed there was "no doubt the advertisement contained a double entendre which was derogatory". But the majority agreed "fag" had various meanings, and the ad could not be said to cause serious or widespread offence.
A similar complaint about a second Fagg's advertisement, featuring Kerre Woodham, was not accepted. The chairman ruled the board had canvassed the issues in the earlier ruling.
