Christian Right, Targeting Gay Kiss, Is Ad It Again
Bill Berkowitz printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 02:38:56 PM EST
The Broadway tune goes "Love Makes the World Go 'Round." For the Christian Right, "Controversial ads make the cash registers sing."
Less than two months after launching its pathetically unsuccessful campaign to get the retailer JC Penney to dump Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson, the American Family Association's OneMillionMoms is attacking Urban Outfitters for its April catalog featuring an image of two young women kissing.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "The company's president and CEO, Richard Hayne, is a known conservative and he donated over $13,000 to the Rick Santorum campaign." Hayne also donated $10,000 to Republican Meg Whitman's failed California gubernatorial run.

Inquiring minds want to know: Why would an conservative Christian group that calls itself OneMillionMoms and has only 40,000 members, be taken seriously?

OneMillionMoms issues warning

The OneMillionMoms web site headlines: "Trash Your Teen's New Urban Outfitters Catalog Today!"

"WARNING! The April 2012 catalog from Urban Outfitters has begun arriving in home mailboxes the last couple of days. On page two of this catalog is a picture of two women kissing in a face holding embrace! The ad and catalog are clearly geared toward teenagers.

"Before your child has a chance to read the newest Urban Outfitters catalog call to unsubscribe from their mailing list at 1-800-282-2200, and then throw it away. When you call be sure to let them know why you are unsubscribing. Tell them you will also no longer shop at their stores if you hear this type of advertising continues. The content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen who is the company's target customer."

OneMillionMoms is also urging its supporters to "send an email letter urging Urban Outfitters to discontinue this ad and immediately stop the circulation of the catalog with the two women kissing or you will make a conscious effort to shop elsewhere. Also, suggest they refrain from using this type of advertising in the future. An apology statement from the company for sending an offensive catalog to people's homes would be appropriate and appreciated by customers and families as well."

Christian Right's ad rage

For years, controversial advertisements -- especially those featuring gays and lesbians, and/or scantily clad models have provoked public outrage while bringing in customers. But some have really crossed the line.

In 1980, an uproar was caused by 15-year-old Brooke Shield's provocative pose and partially unbuttoned shirt in a Calvin Klein TV ad. For years, Benetton created some of the most controversial ads in the fashion world, using racial images, some of which were criticized as stereotypical. Abercrombie & Fitch's 2003 Christmas catalog, featuring an image of a topless girl hugging a bare-chested boy among other incendiary images, was pulled from the stores. In 2008 India Vogue used poor people as props, dressing them in uber-expensive clothing.

Back in the day, mobilizing the faithful took some time, and depended on the U.S. Postal Service. Envelopes marked urgent were stuffed with letters expressing outrage, perhaps photos of the cursed item of interest, and, most importantly, a fundraising pitch.

Then the fax blast became a reliable tool.

These days, the Intertoob, with all its related social media, can rile up the gang in the blink of an eye.

Richard Hayne: `former hippie'

According to Forbes, as of March 2012, Richard Hayne - who the magazine describes as "a former hippie" -- had a net worth of $1.1 billion, giving him a ranking of #1075 on Forbes' list of world billionaires, and #390 in the United States.

Although Urban Outfitters' Hayne, who also owns Anthropolgie and Free People (run by his second wife Margaret), Terrain Garden Center, and his latest project, wedding-outfitter BHLDN, "hasn't openly expressed his views on gay marriage, ... he's thought to be anti-gay because in 2008 the retailer pulled pro-gay-marriage T-shirt from store shelves," the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The Advocate reported that "The same-sex marriage shirts ... [weren't] the only Urban items to generate scandal. In 2003, Urban began selling `Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl' shirts, which had dollar signs surrounding the text. In 2006, Philadelphia stores featured handgun Christmas decorations, even though the city suffered over 300 gun-related murders that year."

In a Twitter post last year, singer Miley Cyrus called on her fans to stop shopping there in a Twitter post last year: "Every time you give them money you help finance a campaign against gay equality," the singer said.

According to The Advocate, when Hayne was "asked in 2003 what his own views were about homosexuality, Hayne told the Philadelphia Weekly, `I have my own opinion, but I am not going to share it.'"

It will be interesting to see if Hayne caves to OneMillionMoms' newest campaign. According to The Christian Post, "In their most recent protest against the `anti-Christian' program `GCB' or `Good Christian B------,' the ... group of nearly 40,000 mothers succeeded in convincing big advertisers like Reebok, Old Navy, Olive Garden, Macy's and McDonald's to pull their commercials from the program."




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