The Almirall pharmaceutical laboratory has been forced to withdraw an advertising campaign in Asturias after the rejection and pressure received in recent days. On the poster, over the image of a plate of fabada, the slogan "Enjoy Asturias without acidity" was placed. This advertising has been in the windows of many local pharmacies and has caused strong rejection among various groups, town halls and the President of the Principality himself. So much so that the company has apologized and withdrew it.
The reactions did not wait on the part of the Asturian authorities when the ad appeared, who considered the link between the antacid and the Asturian fabada itself an attack on one of its gastronomic symbols. The Gastronomic Brotherhood of Amigos de les Fabes del Principado de Asturias and the Villaviciosa City Council were among the first to react when they became aware of the campaign and sent a letter to Almirall showing their rejection and disagreement.
The President of the Principality of Asturias himself, Adrián Borbón, expressed his indignation on Twitter at the "criminalization" of this traditional dish, and insisted that the company should "apologize to the Asturian people and immediately withdraw this disrespectful campaign."
Members of the PGI of faba and the president of the Asturian hospitality association (Otea), José Luis Álvarez Almeida, did not take long to speak out either, who assured that the ad "transmits an erroneous and negative image of our gastronomic product par excellence" and He added that "it does not cause heartburn in any way, but satisfaction when eaten."
In this way, in a letter sent by Álvarez Almeida, it was insisted that "the immediate withdrawal of said advertising campaign" should be proceeded and he even spoke of taking "as many measures as may correspond to us in the defense of the interests that we represent".
In view of the controversy generated, the Catalan laboratory did not wait even twenty-four hours to withdraw the campaign from all the establishments and, as hoteliers and authorities requested, they have apologized and have assured that the only thing they wanted was to value Asturian gastronomy and not offend anyone.
However, in all this commotion there have also been those who have defended advertising, even generating a debate on the networks about whether or not the most traditional dish in gastronomy causes heartburn. In the same way, some questioned whether the campaign should be taken with a little more humor and avoid the cancellation or censorship of creativity in advertising.
