HOW IS A CHEERIOS COMMERCIAL LIKE ATWT & GL?

So many people have asked me my thoughts on the controversial Cheerios commercial featuring the interracial family, that I wrote an entire piece on it for Kveller.

And, of course, me being me, I tied it in to a similar experience I had while working for P&G.  Here is the relevant excerpt:

What I don’t believe is General Mills’ follow up wide-eyed, innocent statement: We’re a bit surprised it’s turned into a story.

Sure, they are.

As if Saatchi & Saatchi, the elite advertising agency that created the spot, wasn’t aware that, these days, it’s impossible to produce anything that doesn’t upset someone.

Interestingly enough, S&S is part of the Publicis Groupe. The Publicis Groupe also oversaw two soap operas, As the World Turns and Guiding Light, that I was involved with for about a decade prior to their being cancelled.

Toward the end of their runs, both shows featured a same-sex couple–ATWT a pair of teenage boys,

and GL two women in their 40s. Both shows were perennially getting pummeled by critics and organization who claimed they were too much this, not enough that, that these particular depictions didn’t reflect their own experiences, that they went too far, that they didn’t go far enough, and winding up with threatening boycotts for every infraction. Meanwhile, other soaps, ones that had no gay characters whatsoever, were spared the harsh words and the threats.

You really can’t win for losing with these kinds of things.

Read my entire post, here.