JCPenney will debut five commercials
starring Ellen DeGeneres as the company's new spokesperson during
Sunday's Oscars telecast.
DeGeneres gave viewers of her The
Ellen DeGeneres Show a preview of the commercials on Friday.
In one of the ads, DeGeneres is seen in
ancient Rome. She tussles with a Victorian England hat store clerk
in another. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.
Visit
our video library for more videos.)
JCPenney has been under attack by the
AFA group One Million Moms, which has called on the retailer to fire
DeGeneres as their spokesperson because she is openly gay.
The group accused JCPenney of “jumping
on the pro-gay bandwagon.” A move it claimed would leave the
company with fewer customers.
“Funny that JCPenney thinks hiring an
open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of
its customers are traditional families,” the group said in a
statement.
(Related: Ellen
DeGeneres calls One Million Moms “haters”; cheers Prop 8 ruling.)
DeGeneres, who came out gay in 1997, is
also a spokesperson for CoverGirl and American Express.
During a CBS This Morning
interview, JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson stood by DeGeneres – saying she
was the “perfect” spokesperson for his company – and brushed
aside the controversy.