Walmart ad features a gay couple – of course the right wing went ballistic
Walmart has a reputation, probably undeserved at this point, of being leery of LGBTQ issues. That’s not true. For instance, Wal-Mart Stores, with its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, has a 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign’s “Corporate Equality Index”.
So it should be no surprise that they have an ad series on their website called Love is in the aisle: A dating show at Walmart. The videos show people on a first date in a Walmart store. The second episode in the series features a male couple on a first day.
Pat and Andy meet at the entrance to the store and then go shopping, comparing likes and dislikes. You know – like any couple shopping together, date or not. It’s cute. It’s different. But nothing outrageous. The guys go through the store, trade quips, and have solo reactions speaking to the audience.
Nothing to get upset about, right? Well, no. Unless you are the American Family Association (AFA), which has been named by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
The group is going ballistic over the ad and asking its supporters to sign a petition to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, to “Ask Walmart to remove pro-homosexual promotional video and remain neutral in culture war.”
On the AFA website, their statement to followers says, “It's clear that Walmart is on the path of elevating homosexual relationships to the same level as the male-female model of marriage. We have no choice but to ask our supporters to let the company know how they, the customers, feel about Walmart's shift away from neutrality on this controversial issue to full support for same sex relationships.”
They even invoke the name of Sam Walton, the founder of one of the world’s largest corporations, saying, “Walmart’s shift away from neutrality on this controversial issue to full support for same sex relationships is something Sam Walton would never have approved of.”
The also assert their belief that, “For most Christians and other traditionalists, the idea that marriage is between a man and a woman is sacred. We've seen many large corporations reject that in their marketing, but I honestly never thought Walmart would join the cultural revolution and reject the beliefs of its customer base.”
Of course, they ignore polls that show 63 percent of Americans, in 2015, believed same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. Sixty-two percent supported same-sex marriage, in a 2017 poll. Those polls are from 2015 and the support percentages
“But the Walmart video says absolutely nothing about marriage,” comments LGBTQNation.com. “It just shows two men making jokes about pans and enjoying each other’s company. It’s almost like these folks don’t care at all about the sacred institution of marriage and just hate gay people.”
In other words, the AFA wants Walmart to help them in making LGBTQ people disappear.
Arkansas Times, writing about the ad and the AFA’s dislike of it, lauded Walmart, saying, “Walmart has made other overtures supportive of those of different sexual orientation, including their own employees, so this really isn't new. But good for their inclusive view on love.”
Again, Walmart has a rating of 100, the highest possible, on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, indicating that it is a great place to work for LGBTQ people. The corporation strongly supports LGBTQ advocacy organizations in Northwest Arkansas. Individual stores often give grants to LGBTQ organizations nationwide.
Episode 3 in the series features a bi-racial couple. One can only guess what the AFA will have to say about that.
Copyright The Gayly – February 27, 2019 @ 3:10 p.m. CST.