October 19, 2020
One Million Moms Dunks on Oreo for Rainbow Cookies, Partnership with PFLAG
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The American Family Association-affiliated One Million Moms has taken aim at Oreo cookies for producing a rainbow-themed edition of their popular creme-filled cookies and partnering with PFLAG.
One Million Moms - which is headed and solely operated by Monica Cole - claims that Oreo, which is owned by Mondelez International, is "going after our children in a dangerous partnership with PFLAG.
"PFLAG is the most visible group showing support for LGBTQ youth and acceptance of this lifestyle," the group adds in a text that appears on the group's site urging readers to sign a petition for Mondelez International to "remain... neutral in the culture war."
The group accused Mondelez International of attempting to "brainwash children and adults alike by desensitizing audiences" by having produced a short film that takes as its theme the relationship of LGBTQ children and their straight parents. The group called for a boycott of all Mondelez International products, which includes snack foods like Wheat Thins and Ritz crackers, Philadelphia brand cream cheese, Trident gum, and another brand of cookies, Chips Ahoy.
As previously reported at EDGE, the short film - running three minutes long - shows a young woman visiting her parents together with her girlfriend, whom she's introducing to her family for the first time. The film ends with the tag line, "A loving world starts with a loving home."
Oreo produced 10,000 packages of the rainbow-themed cookies, but did not offer them for sale in stores; instead, the company offered the treats as a reward for joining its ProudParent Campaign by taking "a photo of what allyship means to you" and posting it on Twitter with the hashtags #ProudParent and #Giveaway. "Don't forget to follow @OREO too," the instructions, which were posted in a tweet, added.
This is not the first marketing effort by Oreo directed at the LGBTQ community to have drawn Cole's wrath. One Million Moms attacked Oreo in 2012 over an image of an Oreo sandwich cookie with seven brightly colored layers arranged in the order of the Pride Flag's rainbow hues. The image was released in support of Pride Month.
Watch the recent short film from Oreo and PFLAG below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
