Surrendering to the ‘woke army’? Hallmark apologizes after pulling ad featuring same-sex wedding

Hallmark has reversed its decision to ax an ad on its network that showed a same-sex female couple, after the move sparked outrage on social media. But not everyone is happy about the backpedaling.

The television channel, known for its corny holiday films, initially came under fire from a conservative group, One Million Moms, for airing a commercial for the wedding site Zola.The ad showed two women tying the knot, leading to accusations that the network had besmirched its “family-friendly” programming. Perhaps naively believing it could avoid a scandal, Hallmark relented and pulled the ad.

It wasn’t long before activists from the opposite side of the political spectrum grabbed their pitchforks. The move infuriated LGBTQ activists and their ‘woke’ allies on Twitter, who bombarded the channel with angry comments and accusations of bigotry.

On Sunday evening, Hallmark president and CEO Mike Perry announced that the channel’s parent company, Crown Media, had had a change of heart, and apologized for any “hurt and disappointment” the incident may have caused. Going a step further, Hallmark said that it would start collaborating with gay activist group GLAAD to “better present the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands.”

While many hailed the decision, commentators argued that Hallmark was simply catering to its conservative-minded demographic, before being barraged by “leftist rage.”

Journalist Cassandra Fairbanks vowed to form her own “mom-militia” to protect Hallmark as others noted the “dumpster fire of woke cringe demands” being thrust upon the network.

Hallmark is far from the first company to bow to pressure from LGBTQ activism. Fried chicken chain Chick-fil-A announced in November that it would stop donating to Christian groups, after its charity was attacked as homophobic. Ironically, the reversal caused a fresh backlash from loyal customers.

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