Rachael Ray Ad Yanked

Dunkin' Donuts do coffee and baked goods, but aren't so big on militant political activism.

So when one of their ads got them branded "terrorist sympathizers", they yanked it pretty quick.

Web spots featuring TV chef Rachael Ray have stirred up controversy because critics said her shawl looked like the scarves warn by some Islamic militants.

So yesterday the Massachusetts-based company announced they are taking ads out of circulation.

The promos, which first appeared on 7 May showed the 30 Minute Meals star standing with an iced coffee in a city park, wearing the offending item around her neck.

Commentators complained her tasseled shawl looked like the kaffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern head scarf, that, they claimed, has come to "symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism".

Therefore they said that Ray and the Dunkin' Donuts were offering "symbolic support to terrorists."

Even though Dunkin' Donuts said that the shawl had a black and white paisley design and had been chosen by a stylist for the shoot, they have now pulled the ad because ''the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee.''

''Absolutely no symbolism was intended,'' the company insisted.

Ray, 39, has endorsed Dunkin' Donuts since March 2007.