It seems that, much like people, onions can be criticized for showing too much skin. Facebook recently banned an ad from a Canadian seed company, claiming the onions in the picture are “overtly sexual.”
Over the weekend, The Seed Company by E.W. Gaze shared a screenshot of the Walla Walla onions in question on its Facebook page, seemingly bamboozled by the decision. The ad features the onions bunched together in a basket.
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“So we just got notified by Facebook that the photo used for our Walla Walla Onion seed is ‘Overtly Sexual’ and therefore cannot be advertised to be sold on their platform... Can you see it?” the company wrote.
"Products with Overtly Sexualized Positioning," Facebook wrote in its explanation. "Listings may not position products or services in a sexually aggressive manner."
In the comments, the company had some fun trying to figure out what exactly Facebook flagged, posting photos of a woman in a bikini top looking longingly at the camera while the onions were over her chest.
It also showed that 2014 Paper magazine photo of Kim Kardashian “breaking the internet,” with her backside covered by the photo of the onions.
"I guess something about the two round shapes there could be misconstrued as boobs or something, nude in some way," Gaze Seed Co. official Jason McLean told CBC News on Monday about the placement of the onions. "I just thought it was funny."
Whatever Facebook was seeing, the social media company has since had a change of heart.
"We use automated technology to keep nudity off our apps," Meg Sinclair, Facebook Canada's head of communications, told CBC News. "But sometimes it doesn't know a walla walla onion from a, well, you know. We restored the ad and are sorry for the business' trouble."