The Hallmark Channel on Sunday reinstated ads featuring a same-sex couple that had been removed from the cable network. The network had originally removed the ads for wedding planning and registry website Zola at the petition of a conservative group called One Million Moms, part of the American Family Association.
TV guru Bob Thompson told Boston Public Radio on Monday that by the network choosing to take the ads down, they capitulated to a "rabidly homophobic group."
"They're called One Million Moms. They have less than 100,000 people who like them on Facebook," he said.
Hallmark CEO Mike Perry said on Sunday when the Hallmark Channel reinstated the ads, they've "seen the hurt" they "unintentionally caused" by pulling them.
"So much damage has already been done here," said Thompson. "They made a bad decision, they then reversed it and apologized. Hallmark has been capitulating back and forth. I'm glad they apologized for it, but of course this is all happening in the most important part of the Hallmark year, which is the 24-hour, seven-day Christmas specials, which get massive ratings."
Thompson said the company's initial response was problematic, because their claim that the ads went against their policy of "public displays of affection," didn't hold water when the network continued to air one of the commercials that featured a heterosexual couple kissing.
Bob Thompson is founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public communications at Syracuse.
