This ad caused much controversy online--ranging from people attempting to boycott Oreo and parent company Kraft to people saying how Oreo is going to corrupt children who eat the cookies. While all of this is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, I also kind of find it ridiculous that Oreo released the advertisement in the first place. Why is it necessary for a product (especially a cookie) and the corporation that owns it to say whether or not they support gay rights? Is the company in it because they truly support the cause or because they hope that revenue will be raised? In this controversial case, Oreo has received a ton of attention, both good and bad. This works out very conveniently for them because it gets people talking about Oreo and once they're talking about it, they're thinking about it and then buying the product.
Oreo and Kraft aren't the only company that has made public their support of gay rights and I find it disturbing in all cases. While I'm completely supportive of gay rights, I have a nagging feeling that corporations aren't showing their support for the right reasons; instead they are hoping to gain attention and revenue by stepping in at a pivotal point in history. It's almost as if Oreo is piggy-backing on a very real civil rights issue that affects millions of people and to me, this seems to make it less important.
No comments:
Post a Comment