A series of new Campbell Soup Company
ads published in gay monthly The Advocate are being
protested by the American Family Association (AFA).
The ads, spanning four pages, highlight
the company's Swanson brand of broth with recipes and celebrity chef
endorsements, including openly lesbian Cafe Forant Chef Lea Forant.
In that ad, Forant is featured with her
partner, Carolyn, and their young son Eli.
The Christian-based AFA called the
Campbell campaign an endorsement of gay families and the “homosexual
agenda.”
“Campbell Soup Company has openly
begun helping homosexual activists push their agenda,” the AFA
wrote in an action alert.
“Not only did the ads cost Campbell's
a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual
parents constitute a family and are worthy of support.”
“They also gave their approval to the
entire homosexual agenda,” the group says.
The association, founded in 1977 by
Rev. Donald Wildmon, has a long history of objecting to equal rights
for gays and lesbians. It has lobbied against gay marriage and
hate-crime legislation that would benefit gays.
The AFA has protested gay-intended
advertising in the past by boycotting those companies that have
targeted the gay community.
In March, the AFA ended its two-year
boycott against Ford Motor Company after it stopped advertising in
the gay media. The automaker, however, has said it stopped running
all niche advertising when the economy soured.
A 6-month boycott against hamburger
giant McDonald's ended abruptly in October after the group said the
company had agreed to “remain neutral in the culture war regarding
homosexual marriage.” That statement, however, was never confirmed
by the company.
The advertisements first appeared in
the December issue of the The Advocate and again in
January.