Remember three years ago, when a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial family attracted so many ignorant remarks on the brand’s YouTube page that General Mills opted to disable the spot’s comments section? (Even though, overall, reaction to the ad was highly positive.) Well, the Internet trolls have reemerged from their xenophobic caves to once again attack an awesomely inclusive ad.
To promote its #ThankYouEvent, Old Navy tweeted out a photo Sunday afternoon of a gorgeous interracial family (helmed by basketball-wielding badass model Grace Mahary) sharing a moment in their affordable fashions. Cries of miscegenation — a term coined during the American Civil War in a pamphlet entitled: Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro, we should mention — lit up the Twittersphere, while champions of the ad rose up to shut down the haters. Unsuprisingly, #OldNavy started trending.
It takes a White mother & father to make a White baby.
White people DESERVE basic human rights.
STOP #WhiteGenocide! pic.twitter.com/zeZakrRtNl— Mary Whittier (@marylovefreedom) May 2, 2016
If I were a black man I would be pissed off about this. Whose that white guy with your family? The heck? #OldNavy https://t.co/PGK8LNKhV6
— Wife With A Purpose (@apurposefulwife) May 1, 2016
” I just like having a son with inferior DNA and a proclivity to commit violent crime. That’s why I shop #OldNavy ” pic.twitter.com/uDhgpFH5Qi
— Watson (@JobeWatson14) May 1, 2016
Among those who spoke out in favor of the spot was our beloved Mahary, who wrote, “In light of the controversy revolving around my pretend family… I am proud to be representing interracial love, multiculturalism, and most importantly, a mentality that supports opportunity for all ethnicities. Thanks @oldnavy #lovewins #hatefreezone.”
In light of controversy revolving around my pretend family… I am proud to be representing… https://t.co/HAYTTGokAS
— Grace Mahary (@GraceMahary) May 1, 2016
@OldNavy omg I love you guys. You’ll gain more customers and lose the ones full of hate. #OldNavy
— Jordan Wright (@jiwright_95) May 2, 2016
S/O to #OldNavy for developing ads that encompass love. My sister and her little family say thanks! pic.twitter.com/KdFRNmr36f
— Heather Tungate (@heathertungate7) May 2, 2016
Thanks racists for letting us know about the #OldNavy sale. I need some tanks! #Ioweyouone
— Kathryn Finney (@KathrynFinney) May 1, 2016
We invite you to show your support for the spot by sharing it on your social media and flourishing it in the haters’ faces or, even better, treating yourself to some Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic or Athleta pieces for 40 percent off using the code TREAT. (Kudos to Old Navy on its comprehensive and clever marketing strategy.)
…Because its 2016, we have a multiracial President and best revenge is your paper.
Image: GIPHY
[ via The Cut ]
