Today, July 2, is National Thank Oreo For Supporting LGBT Rights Day, conceived by friend of the blog, Pablito Richardson. Last week, Nabisco/Kraft Foods published the above image on the Oreo Facebook page — a photoshopped Oreo cookie stuffed with rainbow-colored filling. Today, the now-iconic rainbow Oreo boasts 293,728 likes on Facebook, and 59,089 comments. While most of the comments were supportive of Nabisco and Oreo, many were not.
Richardson urges everyone to:
1) “like” Oreo on Facebook.
2) Invite as many people as possible to this event invite.
3) Buy any type of Oreo product that you like…
4) Post a pic on your wall of you eating the product or the product in your home… or your kids chowing down? WHATEVER. Just something oreo!
5) Tag or @mention Oreo when you do! So they can see our support!
6) Tag friends you think also support your effort!
7) Include a link to an organization that focuses on LGBT equality like HRC or GLAAD, etc.
__________________________
_____ One tiny way you can show your support! Just be visible to and that you believe equality matters!
ABC News one day after the rainbow Oreo photo’s release ran a false article, “Oreo Pride: Rainbow-Stuffed Cookie Sparks Boycott,” claiming a boycott had been called, only to days later change the title to add that there were “threats” of a boycott. ABC describe the boycott as a handful of Facebook commenters who vowed to not buy Oreos. Zack Ford at Think Progress noted:
If such journalistic conclusions could be drawn from random typo-ridden comments on Internet content, news headlines would instantly lose all integrity. Two Facebook comments do not constitute a boycott, nor would 100 anti-gay comments even warrant calling the posting “controversial.â€
But perhaps the ABC News story was almost prescient. Warning that “Homosexuals are weighing in, hoping Oreo makes the fake cookie real,” on Friday One Million Moms, the embarrassing email-harvesting arm of the certified hate group American Family Association, released a statement, “Oreo – No Longer Favorite Cookie.”
Moms are aware that Kraft manufacturers a long list of popular products, but Kraft needs to know that there are competitors that make similar products. Moms also know that store brand products will help the grocery bill in this tough economy.
…
There are plenty of cookies on the market for moms to buy for their families that do not support liberal causes. We have a choice. Kraft’s brands include Oreo, Cadbury, Maxwell House, and Nabisco.
One Million Moms will continue to support companies in the future with full understanding where they stand on principles and morality. We will choose to stay away from those who do not support moral decency.
But even One Million Moms fell short of calling for an actual boycott.
New York Daily News food writer David Hinckley last week humorously wrote:
As someone who has felt unconditional love for Oreo cookies since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House, I can’t begin to express how betrayed I feel by the new cookie picture Oreo has released this week.
But added:
As corporate statements go, this is a good one and the right one. It’s something Kraft didn’t have to do, and it’s clever, when you think about it, to use an image as iconic as the Oreo to support basic decency.
That doesn’t change the fact I’m still furious.
When I saw the image of that Oreo, with all those layers of creamy filling, I thought wow, finally someone has gotten supersizing right.
This isn’t just double-stuffed. This is double-stuffed, then double-stuffed again, then double-stuffed again.
Say hallelujah. Say amen.
I’m not sure the colors of all this filling are found in nature. I’m quite sure I don’t care. What’s a little food dye when you’ve got all that tasty sweet stuff?
This is the Dagwood sandwich of cookies – something where you almost have to go to the jaw gym and exercise for a week before you can eat it.
I saw this picture and after a brief moment to appreciate its aesthetics and message, every other thought in my head was immediately overpowered by this one: “Where can I get me a package of these?”
It was only then that I read the fine print, which says this isn’t a real cookie. You can’t buy it. You can’t eat it.
Today, we’ll be eating Oreos and posting our photos!