Israeli actress and model, Gal Gadot, came under fire Thursday after staring in a commercial promoting a cable TV channel that depicts restaurants as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The HOT cable network's campaign starring the Wonder Woman star portrayed going out to a dinner during COVID-19 outbreak as a risk not worth taking, angering restaurant owners, who are already struggling to keep their businesses open.
In the ad, Gadot and a partner, having dressed their babysitter in PPE, head out for dinner but at the restaurant, they are asked intrusive questions about their health and their waitress sneezes all over them as they try to duck for cover. They are then shown relaxing once back in the safety of their home, where they turn on their TV to see HOT programming.
Restauranteur and activist Tomer Mor wrote in a post directed at Gadot that what she has done was "uncool", while their industry was barely surviving due to government restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Gadot quickly responded by posting a picture in her Instagram stories, showing her with a daughter out for a meal. "Alma and I had a date in a restaurant today," she wrote in the post. "It was delicious and very safe. Everyone was adhering to the health directives: social distancing and hygiene."
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Gal Gadot post on Instagram with her daughter out for a meal expressing support for struggling restaurant owners
(Photo: Instagram screenshot )
Gadot went on to say, "We are living in a difficult time for all of us, including restaurant owners, and my intentions were not to add to their difficulties. Though going out these days is complicated, if we all observe guidelines we could try to live with the virus, while supporting local businesses that are facing a tsunami, never before seen."
The HOT company also conceded their add was insensitive, claiming they intended to portray a humoristic picture of the difficulties people are facing at this time, promising to alter the campaign ad.