One Million Moms 'Moving on' From JC Penney-Ellen DeGeneres Protest
One Million Moms, a nonprofit family interest group that has protested against companies like Victoria's Secret and Urban Outfitters, is highlighting JC Penney again this month after the company started airing a holiday ad featuring comedian and lesbian Ellen DeGeneres.
Describing DeGeneres as a "strong gay activist" due to her support of same-sex marriage, One Million Moms (OMM) Director Monica Cole told The Christian Post Thursday that the organization issued an alert due to requests for information from its members. The group originally highlighted JC Penney in February when the business revealed DeGeneres as its spokesperson.
"We're not taking action, we're moving on. We've already contacted the company," Cole explained, who noted that OMM does not have any objections to the content of the new JC Penney ad, but that it was simply DeGeneres' appearance that was at issue.
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In addition, the One Million Moms director was clear to point out that the group's previous call for action was not "an attack on any one person or company," but was targeted at "the agenda behind it." With JC Penney viewed as a family store, many have found its embrace of a non-traditional family lifestyle offensive, Cole added. The company ran store flyers this past Father's Day that featured two gay men.
OMM caught media attention Thursday for an alert published on its website noting: "Since April, JC Penney's has not aired Ellen DeGeneres in one of their commercials until now. A new JCP ad features Ellen and three elves. JCP has made their choice to offend a huge majority of their customers again. Christians must now vote with their wallets. We have contacted Victoria's Secret, CBS, and JC Penney's several times in the past with our concerns, and they will not listen. They have decided to ignore our complaints so we will avoid them at all costs."
The group had also alerted members to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that aired on CBS this week, suggesting that families may want to steer clear of the network during the program's broadcast. The same alert also shared that retailer Urban Outfitters was currently promoting on its website "a new line of holiday sweaters with the catch phrase 'F*CK YEAH HOLIDAY SWEATERS.'"
"Their website is clearly geared toward teenagers, and they should refrain from using this type of advertising," OMM insisted in the alert before encouraging members to email Urban Outfitters to demand that the company clean up its website.
Online users who watched a YouTube video of JC Penney's commercials featuring DeGeneres and three elves suggested that One Million Moms embrace the "new normal" and be content that the retailer mentions "Christmas" in the ad.
"One Million Moms *cough* 51,000 moms should grow up and face the #NewNormal. Ellen 15 [million] followers on here alone, majority rules at JC Penny [sic]," Maddie Errington wrote on Twitter.
"JC Penny [sic] ad says 'Merry Christmas,' but the One Million Moms still not happy because Ellen's in the ad," wrote Kathryn Elizabeth, adding the hashtag "#WarOnChristmas."
One Million Moms, affiliated with the American Family Association, works to "stop the exploitation of our children, especially by the entertainment media (TV, music, movies, etc.)" by rallying mothers to speak out against "the immorality, violence, vulgarity and profanity the entertainment media is throwing at your children."
The organization has previously targeted recording artist Jennifer Lopez's proposal for a new television dramedy framed around a lesbian couple and their blended family. One Million Moms suggested that ABC's executives had "lost their minds" for green-lighting a pilot of Lopez's proposed show.
