Mike Perry, president of the Hallmark Channel , reversed his decision to ban a Zola commercial that featured a same sex couple kissing. The channel has a reputation for airing fluffy Christmas movies, but this commercial was packed with substance. During the commercial, the two women stood at the altar ready to read their vows. However, instead of professing their undying love for each other, they confess that they should’ve picked Zola “to have and to host” their wedding website and invites. When the officiant asks the couple the big question: “Do you think Zola could have made planning your perfect wedding easier?”, the women enthusiastically respond “We do!” Their friends and family burst into thunderous applause as the couple seals their vows with a kiss.
The commercial was initially pulled after a Christian organization called One Million Moms created a petition asking The Hallmark Channel to pull the commercial. Its campaign read, “Please reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples, and please do not add LGBT movies to the Hallmark Channel. Such content goes against Christian and conservative values that are important to your primary audience. You will lose viewers if you cave to the LBGT agenda.” Currently speaking, 31,760 people have signed this petition. The Hallmark Channel’s parent company, Crown Media, decided to pull the advertisement in an effort to protect its viewers from anything deemed “too controversial.” Perry and his company has received plenty of backlash from the decision. Not only are viewers broadcasting their decision to stop supporting Hallmark with #BoycottHallmark, but Ellen DeGeneres expressed her disappointment, Saturday Night Live made the news for parodying the ban in a Hallmark Channel game show sketch “stay straight out there”, and Disney’s network, Freeform, even offered to show Zola’s advertisement instead.
Variety reports that Perry decided to reverse the ban on Sunday in response to the backlash. He said that he regrets that his decision has caused “hurt and disappointment” in an official statement and also vowed, “across our brand, we will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive and celebrate our differences.” He believes the ban contradicts the channel’s mission statement of “care[ing] enough to send the very best.” Crown Media plans on reaching out to Zola to reestablish their partnership and discuss placing the advertisements back on the air.
LGTBQ+ advocates are praising Crown Media for reversing its decision. Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, praised the Hallmark Channel for reversing its decision and affirmed that the community will always be a vital component to advertising. Billie Jean King also tweeted that despite the Hallmark Channel’s initial wrongdoing, it is now on the right path to repairing its relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.
The Zola controversy strongly reflects the strong divide within our country currently. However, the majority of the media tends to venture in the direction of progression, so the Hallmark Channel’s initial decision to pull the commercial is nothing short of disappointing. When a network makes a decision to air a “controversial” show or commercial, it should anticipate backlash and be prepared to defend its programming. Not only was the decision to fold so quickly disrespectful to its partner Zola, but to the LGTBQ+ community in calling their love “controversial.”
However, hopefully the Hallmark Channel is able to learn from the incident. Perry should be commended for admitting he was wrong and correcting the initial decision to pull the ad. The initiative to fix past instances of discrimination and create inclusive programming is something to take into 2020 and the new decade to come.
