SNICKERS AD DOESN'T SATISFY CRITICS SAY COMMERCIAL IS HOMOPHOBIC.

Byline: -- Greg Hernandez

A controversial Snickers bar ad that aired during Sunday's Super Bowl featuring two mechanics accidentally kissing after eating from opposite ends of the chocolate bar was yanked from the air Tuesday after vigorous protests from gay activists and bloggers.

The decision follows the closing of a related Snickers Web site Monday that was considered far more offensive to gays than the commercial itself.

Activists say the ad and the Web site demean male-to-male intimacy by having the two mechanics react violently once they have discovered what they have done and because the ad shows some NFL players reacting to the kiss with disgust.

``I am dismayed that these players, who are role models to our young people, would participate in perpetuating such discrimination and prejudice,'' said Judy Shepard, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation whose son was killed in a hate crime.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign and the Matthew Shepard Foundation condemned the ad for Snickers, the official chocolate bar sponsor of the NFL.

The controversy surrounds the disgust the two men display once they realize they have kissed and then decide to do something ``manly'' to compensate. They wind up ripping hair off their chests.

Mars' campaign Web site (www.snickerssatisfies.com) showed a version called ``Wrench'' where, instead of ripping out chest hair, one man grabs a wrench and uses it to bash the other, who responds by slamming the hood of the car down on his head.

Mars was asking visitors to vote on this and three other endings 7/8 including the one aired on the Super Bowl telecast - to determine which version would air during the Fox broadcast of the Daytona 500 Feb. 18.

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