The Hallmark Channel has pulled four ads featuring same-sex couples kissing at their weddings following complaints from a division of the right-wing American Family Association.
The ads from Zola â which hosts personalized wedding websites â included scenes of women kissing each other during or after their wedding ceremonies, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Later that day, âBoycott Hallmarkâ was trending on Twitter.
One Million Moms, a subgroup of the American Family Association, complained on its website earlier this week about lesbians âshown kissing.â It called on Hallmark to stop airing commercials with âsame-sex couples.â Such content âgoes against Christian and conservative values,â the message warned, adding, âYou will lose viewers if you cave to the LBGT agenda.â
The site noted in an update that the CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, which owns the Hallmark Channel, confirmed in a phone call that the first ad singled out by the group had been pulled, and that it was aired âin error.â He also assured members that the Hallmark Channel will âcontinue to be a safe and family friendly network. Praise the Lord,â the statement added.
A Hallmark representative told the Times that the four of six Zola ads were yanked because âpublic displays of affectionâ violated the channelâs policies â yet a Zola ad showing a bride and groom kissing was allowed to remain on air.
Zola, which was informed of the decision on Thursday, was told that Hallmark was ânot allowed to accept creatives that are deemed controversial.â Zola had previously run ads featuring same-sex couples with no problem, according to its chief marketing officer, Michael Chi.
âThe only difference between the commercials that were flagged and the ones that were approved was that the commercials that did not meet Hallmarkâs standards included a lesbian couple kissing,â Chi told the Times. âHallmark 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.â
Response on Twitter was harsh, and many users urged a boycott of the Hallmark Channel.