You hardly expect a cereal to spearhead racial equality, but surprises lurk everywhere. The latest commercial by Cheerios is guaranteed to warm some hearts, while it turned others cold.
The “Just Checking” ad, which features a cute little girl of mixed race, attracted all the wrong kind of attention. The hate mail poured in thick and fast as milk.
From every dark pocket of social media spilled the racist remarks. According to the article in Slate, the outpouring turned so ugly, the comments were disabled on the commercial's YouTube page.
This wouldn't be surprising 20 years ago, but now? That an ad like this should garner any reaction beyond an 'awww' is shameful.
I would like to think that it is a very small minority that has a problem with the reality of interracial couples and multiracial children. Sadly that 'minority' is a vocal one on the internet.
Fortunately it seems the cereal manufacturer has risen above all petty bigotry. “Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad," said vice president of marketing for Cheerios, Camille Gibson. "At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all.”
While we can't hope to quash the dissenters out there, we can—and must—shout that much louder to drown out their voices.
Let's hope other companies have the temerity to do go where Cheerios has bravely gone.
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