Zola Pulls Campaign From Hallmark After They Ban Same-Sex Wedding Ads

One Million Moms took up a new bigoted cause recently — demanding people boycott the entire Hallmark Channel because they dared to air commercials that included same-sex couples. Unfortunately, Hallmark caved and cut the ads from their broadcast schedule.

But now, the advertiser, the wedding planning website Zola, has pulled their whole campaign and cut ties with Hallmark entirely.

Four of Zola’s six ads for this particular campaign featured same-sex couples in some capacity, and One Million Moms got all twisted up over one showing two women getting married and kissing at their wedding. Something, of course, that would be perfectly acceptable for all ages had they been a heterosexual couple.

The Christian group, which boycotts everything from gender fluid dolls to a Hotels.com commercial featuring a joke about condoms, also noted in its boycott that the CEO of Hallmark’s parent company, Bill Abbott, had recently suggested Hallmark would be open to including same-sex romance stories among the vast number of original Christmas movies they release each year.

However, when confronted by OMM about the advertisement, Abbott reportedly claimed airing something featuring a same-sex couple had been an accident, and the channel was quick to drop the ads Zola said Hallmark referred to as “controversial.”

And that just didn’t sit right with the people at Zola.

“The only difference between the commercials that were flagged [for removal] and the ones that were approved was that the commercials that did not meet Hallmark’s standards included a lesbian couple kissing,” said Zola’s chief marketing officer Mike Chi.

“Hallmark approved a commercial where a heterosexual couple kissed. All kisses, couples and marriages are equal celebrations of love and we will no longer be advertising on Hallmark.”

Either way, it looks like we shouldn't be holding out for any queer Hallmark Christmas films any time soon.