A new Cheerios TV spot in Canada features a gay couple and their adopted daughter, part of a larger ad campaign linking the popular breakfast cereal with people "connecting."
The 15-second commercials, which started running in Canada last week, opens with a shot of a milk-filled bowl of cereal and a few floating Cheerios that move together until they connect. Real people then tell a story involving connection with family, friends or even a pet.
In one ad, a male couple – "Andre and Jonathan" -- wax poetically about the young girl they have adopted, while in a 3-minute YouTube video they also talk about how they got together (blind date).
While gay couples aren't totally absent from advertisements, they're not commonly depicted.
Other Cheerios "connection" ads include a young couple who couldn't speak each other's language when they met; and two cousins who are like sisters, one of whom is deaf. Those ads also are accompanied by longer videos on YouTube.
General Mills hasn't decided yet whether the connection ads will run in the United States. "This is an initiative specific to Canada led by our Canadian Team," Mike Siemienas, a company spokesman, said by e-mail.
Links to commercials and videos are here:
