Tube bosses ban poster promoting play because it features ‘fattening’ wedding cake
Tap above to watch video report by Anna Geary
London Underground bosses banned a poster promoting a hit Broadway play because it featured a two-tier Victoria sponge. The producers of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding invested thousands of pounds to promote their immersive comedy in London but the adverts fell foul of obesity rules. Adverts promoting the consumption of high fat, salt and sugar are aren't allowed by Transport for London, giving the makers of the show a major headache. "We designed the poster several months ago for the start of the show, we were very pleased with it and thought we would go on the Tube and do an advertising campaign," producer Paul Gregg told ITV News London "And we were politely told it could not go on the Tube because it had a wedding cake on it. "We were gobsmacked by that," he added. Paul and his team rely on advertising to sell tickets which meant he had to rapidly redesign the poster.
He added: "So we changed the poster to eliminate the cake and went for a new poster that didn’t include the cake. It all seems a bit silly really. "We started building the branding for the show several weeks ago and spent several thousand pounds on that. "And the cake was always a feature of what we were doing, we didn’t think the cake would ever be a problem. "It has slowed everything down." Paul said he had to delay the opening date of the play which should have begun on July 15. "We would hope our opening performances would be close to sold out," he said. "We are a party and everyone gets a meal and a drink as part of the ticket price - it’s a wedding party - it has a lot of music and dancing. "So far we’ve sold about 70 tickets but we should have sold 700. It’s disappointing," he explained.
Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding played for years on Broadway and was a huge hit. The audience join members of both sides of the wedding party as they gather to celebrate the union between Tony Nunzio and Tina Vitale. The production is being staged at the The ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Guests are invited to take part in all aspects of the ceremony, from witnessing the wedding vows and dancing at the reception to enjoying various activities throughout the night. A TfL spokesperson said: "We welcome all advertising on our network that complies with our published guidance. We are always happy to work with brands to help them follow our advertising policy."
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