Tuesday, May 3, 2016

An Old Navy ad sparked controversy, but love won over hate.

An interracial family appeared in an ad for the retailer, sparking backlash.

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On Friday, Old Navy did what they've done countless times before: They tweeted an ad for a sale. No biggie, right?

Only this time the company did something a little different. This time, the ad featured an interracial couple. (Insert gasps, footage of people fainting here.)

Interracial marriage was legalized in 1967 (and never should have been illegal to begin with), so it's disappointing to report that this photo prompted any sort of backlash. 

Never mind that it was ridiculous that interracial marriage was ever illegal in the first place. 

Some of the most inflammatory responses to the ad accused Old Navy of promoting "white genocide."

What is "white genocide," you may ask? Well, it's the idea that the mixing of races is wiping out white people — an idea just as ridiculous and racist as it sounds.

As always, however, love wins over hate. The backlash to the ad was drowned out as interracial families took to social media in droves to defend the ad.

There...

Was...

So...

Much...

...Love!

Awesome, right?

Families come in all shapes, sizes, and colors — each as valid as the rest. It's mind-boggling to think there are people in this world who see an image promoting love and respond with such hate. 

If history is any indication, though, it's worth noting that protests in the name of hate simply do not win in the long-term.

Just look to Cheerios, who, in 2013, released a TV spot called "Just Checking," which featured an interracial family. It was adorable.

Just like Old Navy experienced this past week, Cheerios received calls to boycott General Mills, and "white genocide" was brought up.

But what happened? Did Cheerios and General Mills see their brand image and profits plummet in response to the vitriol? Hardly. In fact, Cheerios' online branding saw a 77% increase! (That's a good thing.)

At the end of the day, it's just an ad — just one of many ads Old Navy releases on a near-daily basis.

The fact that they included an interracial family in this particular ad is simply a small step toward showing a more accurate representation of the U.S. It's not a call to "white genocide," but simply a reminder of who we are as a country. As this situation shows, that reminder was well-needed.

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Thumbnail photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

All tweets used with permission.



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