The people have spoken: They want to see Alec Baldwin at Weggies.
The central New York-based supermarket chain Wegmans Food Markets recently pulled television advertisements featuring the 53-year-old "30 Rock" actor and his mother following what it says were "a couple of dozen complaints," without elaborating. In December, Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his iPhone, which he was using to play the "Scrabble"-like game "Words With Friends." He later blasted the airline on Twitter.
On Wednesday, January 4, Wegmans Food Markets said it will air the commercials again after even more people complained about its move to pull it.
"We regret ending the Alec Baldwin holiday commercials one week earlier than planned in response to a couple of dozen complaints," Wegmans Food Markets said in a statement obtained by OnTheRedCarpet.com. "We have decided to run the commercials again, effective immediately."
"Clearly, many more people support Alec, as evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of tweets, emails, and phone calls we have received. We enjoyed working with Alec Baldwin and his mom, Carol, and would do it again. We appreciate all the kind things they have said about Wegmans and respect the good work they do for communities."
A spokesperson for Wegmans Food Markets had no immediate comment about the nature of the original complaints about its commercials with Baldwin.
The actor is outspoken about his liberal views. Most New York State counties containing major cities, such as Syracuse, voted Democrat in the 2008 election. However, most of the state's rural communities, many of which contain Wegmans stores, have traditionally supported Republican candidates.
In one of the ads, which ran on local television stations during the 2011 Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, Baldwin appears with his mother, Carol, at a Wegmans store in Camillus, New York, near her home in the city of Syracuse. Wegmans Food Markets, dubbed "Weggies" by fans of the chain, also operates supermarkets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.
"Mom, it's 40 below zero here, six months of the year. When are you going to move to L.A. and live with Billy?" Baldwin asks his mother, referring to his actor brother.
"And leave my Wegmans?" she asks.
The exchange mimics a story Baldwin told on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in April 2011, in which he joked that his mother would never move to California due to her love for Wegmans.
Check out one of Alec Baldwin's ads for Wegmans below (starts at 4:05).
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