BurgerFuel 'smack and cheese' Pablo Escobar advert offends Latin Americans

BurgerFuel's latest campaign has come under fire from members of the Latin American community who say the advertising perpetuates negative stereotypes and capitalises on the drug war.

Advertising for the new Smack and Cheese burger plays on the word "smack" - slang for heroin or cocaine. It is themed around Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the drug war and drug smuggling in South America.

A video advertising the burger is filmed in Spanish and features a Pablo Escobar-like character threatening and bribing soldiers as he attempts to smuggle "smack", which turns out to be macaroni, through the countryside.

Green Party candidate, Ricardo Menendez March, said he was concerned the campaign perpetuated negative stereotypes about the Latin American community, particularly that they are drug dealers.

"Latin Americans across the world already have to deal with commentary around the drug war and for many Latin Americans who come from violent areas, the drug war is quite close to us," he said.

"Some of us have friends and family members and acquaintances who have died as a result, and so to have to put up with those stereotypes can be really demoralising."

Following the election of US President Donald Trump - fuelled by anti-immigration sentiment, particularly targeting the Latin American and Muslim communities - such advertising could normalise some of the negative stereotypes the campaign was built on, Menendez March said.

"The Latin American community is rich in diversity and has a plurality of voices. Companies should not be exploiting narrow stereotypes for profit's sake."

BurgerFuel is yet to respond to repeated requests for comment.

Lorena Cuervo has been in New Zealand for two years and says since arriving she has been typecast when mentioning she is from Colombia.

"The following sentence is always related to cocaine: 'good stuff', 'oh! Yes, Pablo Escobar', 'did you bring some stuff to New Zealand?'," she said.

"I don't know why people think that it's funny, or even friendly, they obviously do not know the sadness and pain behind that. They ignore completely that in my country there are children without parents, parents without children because of the war."

Hearing things like this made you feel terribly discriminated against, she said, and seeing these messages in the media encouraged and even sanctioned this stigma.

"I know some people who would rather say that they are from another country instead of hearing those comments."

She believed it was inappropriate for BurgerFuel to use references to the drug war and the trade of cocaine in its advertising.

Menendez March thinks BurgerFuel has a responsibility to play a role in not inciting prejudice and racism.

"An acknowledgement from BurgerFuel that the ad was built upon some pretty negative stereotypes from a war that has cost thousands of lives in the Latin American region would be a start."

• Written by Sarah Murphy