June 5, 2013
“Vitriol Online for Cheerios Ad with Interracial Family”
Stuart Elliott, writing for the New York Times, discusses the reactions of viewers to a new Cheerios commercial that features an interracial husband and wife and their young daughter—a little charmer. It’s a sweet, heartwarming ad about family love; and most viewers saw it that way. But when the commercial was uploaded to YouTube, hate-filled racist comments were posted, resulting in a decision by General Mills, the makers of Cheerios, to close the comments section. The commercial itself remains, however, and the company will “absolutely not” withdraw it, according to the associate marketing director. She told the Times reporter, “There are many kinds of families and Cheerios just wants to celebrate them all.” Watch the 30-second commercial on YouTube; and then visit David Hayward’s blog on the Patheos site, where Hayward has drawn a touching cartoon, titled “Jesus loves Cheerios, hates racism.”
