They said/We said: The latest news out of the One Million Moms JC Penney controversy
If there’s one thing that can be said about One Million Moms, an anti-gay (or “pro-family”) group, it’s that they’re anything but appeasable. In fact, they’re going for third time lucky by taking another swing at JC Penney, a retailer that has very openly supported the LGBT community by prominently featuring them in ad campaigns.
The most recent reason for OMM’s wrath is a Father’s Day campaign the retailer ran, which featured two adorable children playing with not one, but two of their dads. OMM’s complaints about the dads are in the same strain as their attack on the retailer’s Mother’s Day campaign, which featured a lesbian couple.
Copper Smith and Todd Koch, the Texas-based dads featured in the recently released ad, took the high road, with Koch telling WFAA-TV, “I think it just shows that people don’t really think everything quite through…they make rush judgments on certain things without really understanding the full picture.”
The anti-gay Facebook group first bashed JC Penney after the retailer announced they’d be featuring Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson. We don’t know how anyone could have a problem with DeGeneres (the animal welfare support, the dancing, the generosity… she’s beyond lovable!), but OMM did.
“Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families,” the group wrote on its Facebook website, which has since been taken down. “DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.”
Aside from OMM’s fixation on JC Penney, they also threatened to boycott Toys ‘R’ Us after the toy giant sold an Archie comic that featured a gay wedding. (Kudos to Archie CEO Jon Goldwater for this amazing response: “Everything we do is built around love. Love, inclusion, friendship and family. This issue is an extension of that.”)
There’s actually an interesting twist to the whole story: it seems that despite their best efforts, One Million Moms (which is actually more like 220,000 strong) has actually been playing right into JC Penney’s hands. The retailer’s numbers have significantly gone up following the initial controversy over DeGeneres, and have steadily risen despite the OMM backlash.
What do you think: is OMM simply exercising their right to expression or are they crossing into hateful territory?
THEY SAID…
Jenny Block: “Come on, OMM, aren’t there some hungry children to feed or some homeless to shelter? Isn’t it time to stop wasting so much time and energy over who someone loves?” [HuffingtonPost]
Charlotte Cowles: “That’s right! All those loyal anti-gay folks deserve to shop for pillows in peace without being assaulted by pictures of Ellen DeGeneres smiling like a happy, normal person!” [The Cut]
Hypervocal: “JC Penney sees your lesbian mom ad boycott, raises you gay dads…Hey @jcpenney, you’re doing it right.” [Twitter]
WE SAID…
Jacquelyn Francis, executive editor: “I’m a mom but clearly I’m not one in a million. What an utter waste of organizational energy given all the pressing issues facing children and their parents today.”
 group, it’s that they’re anything but appeasable. In fact, they’re going for third time lucky by taking another swing at JC Penney, a retailer that has very openly supported the LGBT community by prominently featuring them in ad campaigns.
The most recent reason for OMM’s wrath is a Father’s Day campaign the retailer ran, which featured two adorable children playing with not one, but two of their dads. OMM’s complaints about the dads are in the same strain as their attack on the retailer’s Mother’s Day campaign, which featured a lesbian couple.
Copper Smith and Todd Koch, the Texas-based dads featured in the recently released ad, took the high road, with Koch telling WFAA-TV, “I think it just shows that people don't really think everything quite through...they make rush judgments on certain things without really understanding the full picture."
The anti-gay Facebook group first bashed JC Penney after the retailer announced they’d be featuring Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson. We don’t know how anyone could have a problem with DeGeneres (the animal welfare support, the dancing, the generosity… she’s beyond lovable!), but OMM did.
"Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families," the group wrote on its Facebook website, which has since been taken down. "DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.”
Aside from OMM’s fixation on JC Penney, they also threatened to boycott Toys ‘R’ Us after the toy giant sold an Archie comic that featured a gay wedding. (Kudos to Archie CEO Jon Goldwater for this amazing response: “Everything we do is built around love. Love, inclusion, friendship and family. This issue is an extension of that.”)
There’s actually an interesting twist to the whole story: it seems that despite their best efforts, One Million Moms (which is actually more like 220,000 strong) has actually been playing right into JC Penney’s hands. The retailer’s numbers have significantly gone up following the initial controversy over DeGeneres, and have steadily risen despite the OMM backlash.
What do you think: is OMM simply exercising their right to expression or are they crossing into hateful territory?
THEY SAID…
Jenny Block: “Come on, OMM, aren't there some hungry children to feed or some homeless to shelter? Isn't it time to stop wasting so much time and energy over who someone loves?” [HuffingtonPost]
Charlotte Cowles: “That's right! All those loyal anti-gay folks deserve to shop for pillows in peace without being assaulted by pictures of Ellen DeGeneres smiling like a happy, normal person!” [The Cut]
Hypervocal: “JC Penney sees your lesbian mom ad boycott, raises you gay dads…Hey @jcpenney, you're doing it right.” [Twitter]
WE SAID…
Jacquelyn Francis, executive editor: “I’m a mom but clearly I’m not one in a million. What an utter waste of organizational energy given all the pressing issues facing children and their parents today.”){kind=link}