Cheerios has a history of producing insanely cute and heartwarming ads, but its latest has also been causing an inevitable, yet totally unnecessary, backlash.
The video in question features an adorable child asking her white mother about Cheerios. After learning about the cereal's cholesterol-removing benefits, she promptly douses what seems to be an entire box-full of Cheerios onto her black father's shirt when he's sleeping. It's cute, adorable, and made us reach for the bright yellow box in our own pantry. Unfortunately, it has also attracted a slew of racist comments on YouTube, forcing Cheerios to disable the comments section.
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The video, created by Saatchi & Saatchi NYC, has garnered over 267,000 views, 3,500 likes, and 630 dislikes on YouTube since it was uploaded on Tuesday. According to AdWeek, commenters made references to Nazis, troglodytes (a prehistoric group of people that lived in caves), and racial genocide. But not all were terrible and racist. Supporters have taken to Cheerios' Facebook page to thank the company for producing an ad with a 21st century point of view. Camille Gibson, vice president of marketing for Cheerios, told Gawker: "Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad. At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all."
It's hard to say whether or not Cheerios really had a social agenda in mind when it created the ad, but it's even harder to imagine that there are still so many people opposed to the idea of an interracial family. Pinchable cheeks rule, no matter their color.
Watch the video above, and tell us what you think in the comments below. (Gawker)