Hallmark Channel Faces Backlash After Removing Zola Commerical of Same-Sex Couple
The Hallmark Channel is in the middle of quite the controversy.
Earlier this month, the channel started airing a commercial from Zola.com – a wedding planning and registry company – showing two women exchanging vows and later kissing during their wedding.
Shortly after the commercial started to air, conservative group One Million Moms slammed Hallmark and started a petition to get the network to pull the commercial and all other LGBTQ content.
“Recently, One Million Moms received concerns about Hallmark airing a commercial from Zola.com in which two lesbians are shown kissing at the end of their wedding ceremony,” the group said on its website. “Parents need to know they could now come face-to-face with the LGBT agenda when they sit down to watch the Hallmark Channel.”
Hallmark then removed the commercial and issued a statement to The New York Times defending their decision.
“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,” the Hallmark Channel spokesperson shared.
Critics then started coming for Hallmark, pointing out that the network did not remove a Zola commercial that featured a heterosexual couple kissing.
Zola has since released a statement saying that the company vows to feature “all kinds” of couples in their advertisement.
“We stand behind this commercial 150%,” Zola said in a statement. “We want all couples to feel welcomed and celebrated and we will always feature all kinds of love in our marketing.”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis chimed in on the situation, slamming Hallmark’s “discriminatory” and “hypocritical” decision to remove the commercial.
“The Hallmark Channel’s decision to remove LGBTQ families in such a blatant way 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,” Sarah Kate Ellis said. “As so many other TV and cable networks showcase, LGBTQ families are part of family programming. Advertisers on The Hallmark Channel should see this news and question whether they want to be associated with a network that chooses to bow to fringe anti-LGBTQ activist groups, which solely exist to harm LGBTQ families.”
You can watch the Zola commercial below.