(crossposted at Amplify )
This holiday season, Swanson Broth (a subsidiary of Campbell Soup) decided to make a very sweet advertisement promoting their product. The ad features the story of a lesbian couple preparing their meal on Christmas Eve with their young son, and it was featured in The Advocate, who has many GLTBQ readers.
No problem, right? Well, not to the far-right gay-haters at the American Family Association . The organization, known for boycotting Disney, McDonalds and Hallmark for "embracing the homosexual agenda", sent out the following email blast:
Send an email to Campbell Soup Company President Douglas Conant. Tell him you want his company to stop supporting the gay agenda.
In the December, 2008 and January, 2009 issues, Campbell Soup Company bought two, two-page advertisements in the latest issues of the nation's largest homosexual magazine, "The Advocate." The ads promote their Swanson line of broth.
In one of the December ads, the Campbell Soup Company highlighted the lives of two lesbians with their son. The others feature New York City chefs. See the ads here.
Campbell Soup Company has openly begun helping homosexual activists push their agenda. Not only did the ads cost Campbell's a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support. They also gave their approval to the entire homosexual agenda.
What lovely holiday spirit, eh?
Fortunately, Campbell Soup is standing their ground, as company spokesperson Anthony Sanzio replied :
"We support all types of families, regardless of how they're defined, [and have done so] for more than 100 years," Sanzio offers. "We advertise in a variety of different media outlets that appeal to a broad spectrum of society. That's what we're doing here, and that's what we'll continue to do."
Bravo to Cambell Soup for standing up for human decency and against this ridiculous homophobic bigotry.
I, for one, am going to go buy a can of Campbell Soup and mail it to AFA headquarters, with a note telling them that I fully support Campbells and will continue to happily buy their products. Here's their mailing address, if you'd like to join in:
American Family Association
P. O. Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
(crossposted at Amplify )
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My dinner of Campbell Chunky soup will now be even more delicious.
I've had some suggestions to mail an empty can to cut down on shipping costs, with a note "Mmm mmm gay" attached...
Haha! That is great. Go Campbells!
I was going to opt for the cheaper broth when I hit the store tomorrow, but now I'm going to fork over the extra change to get the Swanson's brand. I love a company that loves all families! I'll be sending Campbell's a note letting them know they've earned themselves a loyal customer as long as they keep it up.
You mean the queers want to eat broth?? With kids?? On CHRISTMAS!? They should stick to that dry powder bouillon stuff in tin foil! Damn homosexual agenda, eating broth...Hmmph!
Has anyone ever clarified just what the "gay agenda" is? That phrase just seems so damn silly, like gay people have a goal to turn 500,000 new people gay by 2010 or something. 'Cause according to the letter, not ONLY did Campbells show support for gay parents and suggest their families are legitimate, but they ALSO approved of the ENTIRE gay agenda -- as if queer folks are seeking more than just being treated like everyone else.
I know! Every time I read "gay agenda" I giggle a little. It's like we all sat down with clipboards at a board room table:"The top priorities on this month's gay agenda are 1. TURNING the straights into the gayz 2. World domination- 3. Possibly the most important topic this month- EATING SOUP!"
...wtf?
I believe the gay agenda looks like this.
ROFL
I always think it's a good idea to contact companies that do the right thing and thank them, as well as protesting the groups that are promoting bigotry. It's important that companies know this kind of activity is a smart business move. Here's the customer feedback form at the Campbell's Soup website:
http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/contact_form.asp.
I totally agree, thanks for posting the link!
I was just about to post that!
I wrote and told them I was so impressed with their response that despite being a lifelong progresso girl, I'm now officially a campbells customer :)
I loved that they didn't try to pander to everyone like "we understand that everyone has different views, and we respect that..." they were defiant in the face of bigotry. Hopefully for every customer they lose, they'll gain ten
Thanks! Not only did I send them a complimentary email, but I know what I'll be buying next time I go food shopping!
I just sent them a message. It IS important that we encourage positive advertising with the same intensity that we condemn the negative or else nothing will ever improve.
Good for Campbell's! I filled out the contact form telling them what a great job they're doing and that they definitely have a lifelong customer out of me as long as they keep this up.
"but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support"
OH NO!! god forbid we treat teh gayz like normal human beings worthy of our respect and support.
Seriously, these people are just MEAN.
"but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support"
OH NO!! god forbid we treat teh gayz like normal human beings worthy of our respect and support.
Seriously, these people are just MEAN.
WOW... Now I don't feel bad for having that Campbell chili soup last week. Interesting article.
Whoa. A company gets it right!
My joy when someone gets it right is always a bit tempered when I realize that it's so rare... But thank God for Campbells!
I've never wanted broth so much in my life.
Why is the AFA reading "The Advocate" anyway? I imagine a beady-eyed little man sitting in a corner getting paid to scan gay publications for soup ads. I'm glad that with all the domestic violence and sexual abuse happening in "traditional" families the AFA is focusing on lesbians eating broth.
"I imagine a beady-eyed little man sitting in a corner getting paid to scan gay publications for soup ads." hahaha this line made me laugh out loud.
Way to go, Campbells! I need to go get some broth for a Christmas recipe. Now I know it will be Campbells. :)
Wait, AFA is shocked that a company is portraying queer people as they really live in a magazine aimed at queer people? Seriously? Don't they have anything better to do? Are gay families really a bigger threat than oh, I don't know, families in poverty?
Well, I guess you can only be a family if you're two cis-gendered people (man and woman only) in your first marriage with only your own biological children.
I'm switching from Progresso to Campbell's!
Contact them on their website! What I left:
Hi!
It has come to my attention that Swanson had an ad/story featuring a lesbian couple and their son.
THANK YOU for running this ad. While I myself am not in a same sex relationship, I fully support gay rights. I only mention I am not gay because I firmly believe that "straight" people need to stand up for those who do not have the same rights, and I am a proud ally.
THANK YOU again and please don't let the haters get you down. It's funny that in a season of supposed love and giving, people are still so willing to actively go out of their way to hate others and ignore basic human decency while trying to justify that with "faith"!
theyre not even worth my can of soup. i will be purchasing campbells products, donating them to my local soup kitchen for the holiday, and sending them the receipt =)
I agree with you and d2kd3k. Sending soup to the AFA would be a waste. Giving the soup to a soup kitchen is taking the higher ground.
Too bad you can't send them the bill :p
Rather than send AFA free food, I'd be inclined give some Swanson's soup to a local feedbank, and then send a note letting AFA know I'd bought and donated the soup because of them...
I was thinking exactly the same thing!
I completely agree. A thank you note to Campbell's, some of their soups to a local food bank, and the receipt and an explanation to the AFA sounds like a plan to me!
It's rad that Campbell's did this and is standing their ground!
It's really hilarious how groups like the AFA get so up in arms about something so innocent and boring. It's two people with broth. I just love picturing the AFA people sitting around fuming about the evil gay lifestyle (and agenda) while the women in the ad just sit around and eat broth.
It's rad that Campbell's did this and is standing their ground!
It's really hilarious how groups like the AFA get so up in arms about something so innocent and boring. It's two people with broth. I just love picturing the AFA people sitting around fuming about the evil gay lifestyle (and agenda) while the women in the ad just sit around and eat broth.
It's rad that Campbell's did this and is standing their ground!
It's really hilarious how groups like the AFA get so up in arms about something so innocent and boring. It's two people with broth. I just love picturing the AFA people sitting around fuming about the evil gay lifestyle (and agenda) while the women in the ad just sit around and eat broth.
Maybe if enough food companies make ads featuring gay and lesbian families, the AFA will boycott so many foods that they'll starve to death and then we won't have to worry about homophobes anymore.
LMAO!!
Looks like someone has lost his/her "Unfunny" title.
They're arguing a gay couple and their kid don't count as a family, yet introducing the ad as featuring a lesbian couple and their son.
You're acknowledging it's a couple and their son. They're acknowledging he's theirs, and that they're a couple. Two people, and the child they share, that's pretty indisputably a family. I mean, what other word are you going to use for them?
They can't argue the biology thing. They already acknowledge that a woman, her child, and her partner, even if the partner isn't the child's biological father, is a family. I mean, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph," after all, right?
So it's Josephine. So what?
Jud, I thought the same thing when I read the AFA's response: I was surprised the email didn't call the kid "some unsuspecting child that has been kidnapped from loving parents by twin proponents of the homosexual agenda and passed off as their own."
It's great that so many people had the same idea to show Campbell's their appreciation. I just got back from posting them a compliment.
As for the asshats who protested the ad...let's just say I sincerely hope the "gay agenda" includes dropping nukes on the bigots.
"...let's just say I sincerely hope the "gay agenda" includes dropping nukes on the bigots."
Or giant Campbell's soup cans! Sweet!
I was thinking of just sending the labels from my Campbell's soup cans because we usually keep a few on hand for quick lunches. But I really like what others have suggested about donating to foodbanks, maybe we'll do both :)
What really grinds me is that these people try to play victim when we call them out for being bigots, but when you say things like but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support"
or say that gays are "deviant" and and trying to corrupt kids, what are people supposed to think?? They can throw about the "pro family" label all you want, but most people see them for what they are
Perhaps I can enclose a card that says "Happy holidays" instead of Merry Christmas, LOL isn't that another thing they bitch about?
Two things-
#1- Go, Campbell's. They're showing that if you really want to be an "American household name" you have to embrace diversity and change along with the times. Whether or not their support for alterna-families in sincere or if they just are smart enough to realize that gays spend money too doesn't really matter. What matters is that they did it and are sticking to it!
#2-...Disney? Gay agenda? Aren't they the ones who fire their once-child-actors if they come out as gay? (Heather Matarazzo, anyone?)
Can we send the AFA a box of puppy feces instead, and still tell them we support Campbell's soup (without getting arrested)?
Let's see...
"Here's some doodies, AFA!" + "YAY, Soup!" = "We love gay people!"
That message works for me! Let's do it! I'll round up some dobermans and bullmastifs while you get the Snausages and some soft canned food.
Please check with the legal experts first though.
Listen: I understand the desire to get behind any company that seems to abstain from pandering to blatant homophobics, but chicken broth is REALLY messed up! Do you know the extent to which chickens are abused before they are mercilessly slaughtered to make Swanson's Broth? As a queer person who realizes the importance of the rights of all beings, this ad is really offensive. Read up on the connections between veganism and feminism in Carol Adam's Book "The Sexual Politics of Meat" and "The Pornography of Meat," or message me and I'll send you a PDF of an article I recently published in Curve Magazine on the subject.
P.S. I made an account on feministing just so that I could make my views known.
ALSO! I think it's EXTREMELY HYPOCRITICAL AND f'd up that feministing allows e-harmony to advertise on this site, seeing as though they are an OPENLY HOMOPHOBIC business that forbids same-sex individuals from using their website.
WAKE THE FUCK UP, FEMINISTING EDITORS.
Er, one issue at a time?
I eat very little meat of any kind and make my own veggie broth. I'm still going to thank Campbell's for not giving in to homophobes.
Campbells is a part of the machine of exploitation, and I believe that they do not deserve positive press at all, even for talking down some homophobic people. The corporation is very guilty of egregious human and animal rights violations: it pays its workers below the living wage, discriminates in terms of its same-sex partner benefits (how's THAT for a supposedly gay-friendly company?) and is additionally responsible for the horribly cruel treatment of the animals it slaughters for its products.