This Article is From Dec 16, 2019

Too "Controversial": US Channel Hallmark Pulls Ads Showing Lesbian Couple

Hallmark, known for its annual lineup of holiday movies, was pulling four of six commercials in which couples wish they'd turned to Zola's services for their big day.

Too 'Controversial': US Channel Hallmark Pulls Ads Showing Lesbian Couple

Zola's ads with a lesbian couple's wedding-day kiss are still airing on more than 100 networks

The wedding planning company's ads had been airing for more than a week when the Hallmark Channel said there was a problem.

The TV network known for its annual lineup of holiday movies was pulling four of six commercials in which couples wish they'd turned to Zola's services for their big day. The rationale given in a Thursday email to Zola representatives was vague: "We are not allowed to accept creatives that are deemed controversial," the note, which was shared with The Washington Post, explained.

It seemed that Hallmark had rejected only the ads that showed a lesbian couple.

The move was a victory for a conservative group that petitioned against the commercials, which called them a blow to Hallmark's "family friendly" reputation and gathered nearly 30,000 signatures. But the decision astonished LGBTQ advocates, who viewed it as a step backward from an iconic brand amid growing representation of different sexual orientations in media.

Zola announced it would stop advertising with Hallmark.

"All kisses, couples and marriages are equal celebrations of love," Mike Chi, the company's chief marketing officer, said in a statement.

The Hallmark Channel, which did not immediately respond to The Post on Sunday, has said it pulled the ads because the debate they sparked "on all sides was distracting from the purpose of our network, which is to provide entertainment value." A spokesman told The New York Times that the network followed its normal policies in choosing not to air ads with "overt public displays of affection . . . regardless of the participants."

But Zola points out that Hallmark kept showing an ad that features a heterosexual couple kissing at the altar. Its six commercials are similar in content, and Zola has run Hallmark ads depicting same-sex couples going back to 2017, spokeswoman Emily Forrest said.

Opposition to Zola's latest ads grew with a campaign by an organization called One Million Moms, which bills itself as an advocate for parents "fed up with the filth many segments of our society, especially the entertainment media, are throwing at our children." Among the group's other initiatives: urging a TV network to drop an "anti-Christian" show and encouraging Chick-fil-A to resume donations to organizations that oppose same-sex marriage.

One Million Moms asked Hallmark to reconsider commercials showing gay couples as other conservative groups rallied against the prospect of more LGBTQ representation on the channel.

A post on LifePetitions, which says it caters to the "pro-life and pro-family communities," shares dismay at a leader for the Hallmark Channel's parent company expressing interest in LGBTQ film pitches. It notes with approval that the channel has never featured a gay main character in the TV Christmas movies it's known for, though a company leader recently told the Hollywood Reporter that Hallmark will consider gay leads.

One Million Moms says on its website that Bill Abbott, the CEO of Hallmark owner Crown Media Family Networks, personally confirmed to the group that Zola's ads with same-sex couples were "aired in error."

"The call to our office gave us the opportunity to also confirm the Hallmark Channel will continue to be a safe and family friendly network," the organization adds. "Praise the Lord!"

Representatives for Crown Media did not immediately respond to The Post's inquiries.

As One Million Moms celebrated Hallmark's decision as a success, others were incensed. Some deployed the hashtag #BoycottHallmarkChannel.

"Isn't it almost 2020?" tweeted Ellen DeGeneres, the lesbian comedian and TV host known for breaking down barriers in the entertainment world. ". . . what are you thinking? Please explain."

GLAAD, a media-focused nonprofit that advocates for the LGBTQ community, noted what it deemed a discrepancy between Hallmark's actions and executives' statements embracing diversity in their programming.

Cutting the Zola ads is "discriminatory and especially hypocritical coming from a network that claims to present family programming and also recently stated they are 'open' to LGBTQ holiday movies," GLAAD tweeted.

Scrutiny of Hallmark comes as more media companies grow comfortable showing LGBTQ characters and families. A recent report from GLAAD says one in 10 series regulars on scripted, prime-time programming for the 2019-20 TV season are part of the LGBTQ community, the highest percentage in GLAAD's 15 years of tracking.

Another family-focused brand, the children's magazine Highlights, made headlines in 2017 when it depicted a same-sex couple for the first time - to significant controversy.

"We did expect and received a backlash when we committed to becoming more fully reflective to all the different kinds of families out there," Christine French Cully, editor in chief of Highlights, told The Post at the time. "We expect this will make some people unhappy."

Zola's ads with a lesbian couple's wedding-day kiss are still airing on more than 100 networks, spokeswoman Forrest said.



(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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