Free condoms with pizza ads spark row in New Zealand

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 2, 2006

Wellington- New Zealand's Hell Pizza company sparked a storm of protest Thursday after putting 170,000 condoms in mailboxes with leaflets promoting a new meat-lovers' pizza called "lust." Catholics and family protection groups joined about 30 complaints to the country's Advertising Standards Authority about the mail drop and called for a boycott of the company.

But the Family Planning Association told Television New Zealand that linking sexual responsibility with lust was sensible.

Hell Pizza's Warren Powell refused to apologise for distributing the condoms, saying, "New Zealand has got the third highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the developed world, so we have not got a problem with children getting hold of them."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency