Cheers, Cheerios!

Think of all the TV commercials you've seen ever in life. Okay, that's alot to ask but can you think of any ads that have featured interracial families? Probably not. I can't and I've been exposed to hundreds and hundreds of ads over my lifetime. Yes, I watch too much television. Anyway, Cheerios put out an ad that featured a white mom, a black dad, and obviously a mixed child.

The feedback could have gone either way on this topic. Unfortunately, it had some backlash and people responded rather negatively and has spawned a rash of hate speech. In response to these negative comments, Cheerios decided to disable the comment feature on the video.

The VP of marketing claims feedback has been positive, saying,

“Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad. At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all." 

So is he making this up? Or are they really responding positively? According to the comments that were posted before it was disabled, people weren't too fond of the commercial.

Did Cheerios do the right thing but simply making it impossible for people to comment on the commercial? How are they supposed to get any honest feedback now? I understand why they would do it, to avoid the negatives, but it isn't a realistic way to deal with the reality of the issue.