Hallmark has issued a formal apology for pulling their recent ad which showed a same-sex couple and has promised to reinstate it.
The ad, made in collaboration with the wedding company Zola, was previously called distracting and controversial by the greeting card manufacturer.
In response to the move, a large number of people mainly including the LGBTQ community and some of the top LGBTQ celebs expressed their anger on social media.
Some even threatened to boycott the greeting card company, which it certainly can’t afford during the peak Christmas season.
Mike Perry, the president and CEO of Hallmark, wrote on Twitter: “The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we’ve seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused.
“Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision. We are truly sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused.”
Hallmark cleared their stance on the matter, saying that they will be “working with GLAAD to better represent the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands” and “reaching out to Zola to reestablish our partnership and reinstate the commercials.”
Zola’s spokesperson said that their company “will be in touch with Hallmark in the coming days regarding a potential return to advertising.”
Mike Chi, the Chief Marketing Officer of Zola said that Zola was “deeply troubled when Hallmark rejected our commercials for featuring a lesbian couple celebrating their marriage, and are relieved to see that decision was reversed.”
He further said: “We are humbled by everyone who showed support not only for Zola, but for all the LGBTQ couples and families who express their love on their wedding day, and every day.”
Hallmark pulled the ad back due to the petition from One Million Moms, a conservative group.
Public affairs and communications senior vice president at Hallmark, Molly Biwer, told the Associated Press that the commercials were sparking a “distracting” debate.
“The Hallmark brand is never going to be divisive,” Molly said.
“We don’t want to generate controversy, we’ve tried very hard to stay out of it … we just felt it was in the best interest of the brand to pull them and not continue to generate controversy.”
Speaking to BuzzFeed News, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Allis said: “The Hallmark Channel’s decision to correct its mistake sends an important message to LGBTQ people and represents a major loss for fringe organizations, like One Million Moms, whose sole purpose is to hurt families like mine.”
Replaced!