Hallmark Channel Facing Backlash After Pulling A Same-Sex Marriage AD

Source: (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images) / (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Hallmark Channel Apologizes After Pulling An Ad Featuring A Same-Sex Marriage

The Hallmark Channel is going back on its decision to pull an advertisement for a wedding planning website after the commercial highlighted the ceremony of a same-sex couple.

Over the weekend, Hallmark was at the receiving end of some serious criticism after making the decision to pull an ad from the wedding planning company Zola, which features a lesbian couple kissing at the altar. A spokesperson for the company responded to the channel’s decision, telling Buzzfeed News that they have now decided to stop advertising on Hallmark completely.

“The only difference between the commercials that were flagged and the ones that were approved was that the commercials that did not meet Hallmark’s standards included a lesbian couple kissing,” said Mike Chi, Zola’s chief marketing officer, in a statement.

This whole thing started when a conservative online group by the name of One Million Moms complained about the ad on its website.

“The Hallmark Channel has always been known for its family-friendly movies,” the group wrote. “Even its commercials are usually safe for family viewing. But unfortunately, that is not the case anymore.” That’s when the group created a petition, asking Hallmark to remove the commercial.

Later on, the site shared that they had “personally spoke to” the CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, who assured the group that they would pull the advertisement from Hallmark. Not only that, according to One Million Moms, the CEO said the ad only aired in error.

That’s when #BoycottHallmark started trending on Twitter, featuring some shade from the people over at Netflix.

Now, because of so much backlash and calls for a boycott of the channel, Hallmark is reversing their decision and will be reaching out to Zola to try and put the commercials back on the air.

The CEO of Hallmark, Mike Perry, ended up releasing a statement Sunday night. saying the following:

“I am sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused. Hallmark Channel will be reaching out to Zola to reestablish our partnership and reinstate the commercials,” he said, according to reports from CNN. “We will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive and celebrate our differences.”

Check out the advertisement for yourself down below: