Our “Lifestyle” Is Under Attack

A commercial that shows a family that is accepting of all is being attacked by a far right for “promoting a LGBTQ lifestyle.” What did the commercial show? Horrors of horrors, a trans person and a gay couple sitting down for a “holiday” dinner.

Ritz takes a bite out of holiday ad space with LGBTQ-inclusive commercial
As part of its "Where There's Love, There's Family" campaign, Ritz's parent company is donating to the It Gets Better Project, which supports queer youth.
NBC News
By Dan Avery
November 12, 2020


A new holiday-themed commercial from Ritz crackers features a gay couple as part of a message about the beauty of chosen families.

Released this week, "Where There's Love, There's Family" opens with a series of vignettes of people yearning for connection — a young gay man texting his mother to ask “Can we talk?," a child staying in a homeless shelter over Christmas, and a grandmother unable to celebrate the holidays with her family.

As the ad continues, a person with a beard applies lipstick before welcoming the young gay man from the opening vignette into a festive gathering with other LGBTQ partygoers. The grandmother puts out a tray of hors d'oeuvres at her retirement home, and the girl in the homeless shelter shares a Ritz cracker with a man across the table from her.

“The holidays are about spending time with family,” a voice-over says. “Whether it’s the one you’re born into, or the one you make.”

The Advocate had this to add…

Naturally, the AFA took offense at the image of a "man putting on lipstick like a woman and effeminately clinging to another man."

"RITZ Crackers is attempting to normalize the transgender lifestyle by airing a commercial that has absolutely nothing to do with selling crackers," the petition read, adding, "The company's goal is to redefine family as something other than God's biblical design for gender and sexuality."

AFA also took issue with the campaign's partnership with the It Gets Better Project, an organization it described as an "LGBTQ+ program directed at promoting homosexuality and transgenderism to youth."

The far-right Christians are in a tizzy over this,

As of the time of this article's publishing, the AFA's petition against Ritz has accrued over 35,000 signatures. Online petitions are a common tactic of the organization, which is also the parent group of One Million Moms, a frequent boycotter of pro-LGBTQ+ brands.

Another Mom’s group had this

RITZ Crackers Commercial Invites Us To Make A More Welcoming World
RITZ Crackers invites all families to value each other. We are all in a different situation, but all facing struggles. Let's spread acceptance.
Moms
By Lilee Williams
November 14, 2020


Families have one thing in common: they are tied to each by love. After that, there are a lot of different characteristics and traditions that can go into a family, but as long as there is love, that's what really matters.

That's the theme of the latest holiday cracker commercial that has moms running to get their tissues. RITZ is challenging people to expand their definition of family, not just in the ideas of adoptions and gay marriage but even further than that.

The Advocate wrote this about the company that owns the Ritz brand...

Mondelēz, Ritz’s parent company, said in a statement that the commercial “sets out to remind consumers that there is strength and love in togetherness, and a blood relation isn't the only way to define family.”

"At a time when our families may be strained as a result of social distancing, political tensions or personal orientations and identities, the Ritz brand's campaign is intended to encourage Americans to help build a more accepting world and welcome in those that may be feeling disconnected or alone," Patty Gonzalez, the company’s senior director of marketing, said in the statement.

I know that I am going to buy a box of Ritz crackers just to twist AFA’s shorts.

Oh and the horrible ad that tweaked them...