Hallmark Channel sparks backlash after network drops ads that feature brides kissing

The Hallmark Channel dropped four ads for the wedding planning website Zola because conservatives expressed horror at the sight of same-sex couples kissing in the commercials. Zola originally had four ads that featured two brides kissing each other. Zola also has two ads that feature a bride and groom kissing, and those, notably, were still allowed to run on the channel.

Who is behind the wave of conservative fury? In this case, One Million Moms, which is a division of the American Family Association. The American Family Association, by the way, is designated as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

One Million Moms published an online petition calling for the ads to be removed. The petition soon gathered about 25,000 signatures. Interestingly, the organization updated its petition saying it had “personally” spoken with the CEO of Crown Media Networks, Bill Abbott.

“The decision not to air overt public displays of affection in our sponsored advertisement, regardless of the participants, is in line with our current policy, which includes not featuring political advertisements, offensive language, R-rated movie content and many other categories,” a Hallmark Channel spokesperson told The New York Times.

Again: The two Zola ads that feature a bride and groom kissing at the altar weren’t pulled from the channel. In response to Hallmark’s move, Zola decided it simply won’t run any of the ads on the network.

“Hallmark approved a commercial where a heterosexual couple kissed. All kisses, couples and marriages are equal celebrations of love and we will no longer be advertising on Hallmark,” Zola’s chief marketing officer Mike Chi said in a statement.

“The debate surrounding these commercials on all sides was distracting from the purpose of our network, which is to provide entertainment value,” a Hallmark spokesperson explained in an email to CNBC. The spokesperson clarified to CNBC that Hallmark’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks, made the decision to pull the ads.

Molly Biwer, senior vice president for public affairs and communications at Hallmark, offered a similar sentiment to the Associated Press in a statement. “The Hallmark brand is never going to be divisive. We don’t want to generate controversy, we’ve tried very hard to stay out of it,” Biwer stated. “We just felt it was in the best interest of the brand to pull them and not continue to generate controversy.”

Many people on social media are horrified, and some are calling for a boycott of the Hallmark Channel.

Venn diagram of people who are upset over the @zola ads on hallmark because, “THAT’S NOT TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE!!!” and who are also okay with voting for a guy who had sex with Stormy Daniels while his third wife was nursing his infant child: #BoycottHallmarkChannel pic.twitter.com/JacS80e6TQ

— Pete (@_Pete__Smith) December 15, 2019

Hallmark pulled this from airing when homophobes complained it was “not suitable for children” for showing a same gender wedding.

LGBTQ+ love is beautiful. Kids deserve to see that.#BoycottHallmarkChannelpic.twitter.com/Kb4fUnMWrE

— Bi-Trans Alliance (@BiTransAlliance) December 15, 2019

And maybe if I had had some lesbian Hallmark movies to watch as a teenager I wouldn’t have tried to kill myself at 16 like nearly half of LGBTQ youth do now, as I reported here.#BoycottHallmarkChannel #BoycottHallmarkhttps://t.co/FT8ffks1hb

— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) December 15, 2019

Gentle reminder to all the conservative white snowflakes out there that Jesus was brown and he’d be perfectly fine with gay marriage but definitely not okay with caging children. #BoycottHallmarkChannel

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) December 15, 2019

Dear @HallmarkChannel,

LGBTQ+ couples, families, and people are beautiful and we don’t have time to support networks who exclude us and cave to bigoted conservative groups.

#BoycottHallmarkChannel

— Ryan Knight ?️‍?? (@ProudResister) December 15, 2019

My partner Jerry & I have been together for 17 years.

The first 5 of them I was healthy & the last 12 of them my caregiver.

It hasn’t always been easy but we can still kiss.@hallmarkchannel, your heartbreaking decision to CAVE sets LGBTQ families back! #BoycottHallmarkChannel pic.twitter.com/HXrsLdf64k

— Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) December 15, 2019

Gay couples get married. Gay couples kiss. @hallmarkchannel you may retain a small group of viewers who operate on hate with this decision, but you’ll lose the the rest of America, the majority. We don’t. #BoycottHallmarkChannel (888) 390-7474 https://t.co/gHFGl02iom

— Tony Stark 2020 ?⎊ (@1IronMan2020) December 15, 2019

It’s disgusting that, of all organizations to cave to, @hallmarkchannel caved to hate group One Million Moms. #BoycottHallmarkChannel https://t.co/Di9nJngxCf

— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) December 15, 2019

By the way, here is one of the ads which apparently caused deep horror.

Homophobia is clearly the issue here. Another layer to it is that same-sex couples (and particularly female same-sex couples) are often overly sexualized in negative cultural discourse. For decades, homophobes have suggested that LGBTQ people are dangerous, sexual predators; or, on the flip, confused, highly sexual people putting on a performance to tantalize. Either way, the idea that same-sex couples are not as valid or appropriate as opposite-sex couples continues to be deeply embedded in some people’s skulls, regardless of the fact that same-sex marriage (and some related recognitions) is the law of the land.

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