Greek Travel Ad Pulled After Being Called Homophobic

An ad for Greek e-ticket company AirFastTickets will be pulled from the air after it offended both the country's truckers and its gay and lesbian residents, the Greek newspaper Ta Nea daily reported on Saturday. 

The ad (posted below) shows a hitchhiker catching a ride on a long-haul truck. As soon as he gets in the cab of the truck, the driver flips a switch, turns the truck into a seemingly disco-themed lovers' den, and then blows a kiss at the hitchhiker.

"Do you want to travel cheaply, and end up paying for it dearly?" the ad concludes.

"You have ridiculed Greek truckers brutally and without provocation," the truckers' association complained to AirFastTickets. "You have created an insult that will stay in viewers' minds far longer than your company's name or website."

Meanwhile, Greek LGBT group OLKE also filed a complaint. "Gay men are presented as devious and sex-obsessed people trying to seduce unsuspecting youths," the group said. "Once again, the easy road of homophobia and stereotypes is chosen to advertise products."

AirFastTickets produced a new version of the ad, in which the driver keeps a skull and electric candles in the back of his truck, but the truckers weren't pleased with that one either.

"The new ad presents us as necrophiliacs. We will file a complaint about this one too," their group president told Ta Nea.