J.C. Penney Releases Father’s Day Ad Featuring Two Gay Dads

J.C. Penney Releases Father's Day Ad Featuring Two Gay Dads

Retailer J.C. Penney has released a Father's Day print ad featuring a real-life same-sex couple. The ad features Cooper Smith and Todd Koch hugging their two young children. The copy reads, "What makes Dad so cool? He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver -- all rolled into one. Or two."

The ad is the latest evidence of J.C. Penney's support of the gay community. Earlier this year, the retailer also became controversial for its decision to employ the openly gay talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman. A conservative group called One Million Moms criticized the retailer for abandoning "traditional moral values."  However J.C. Penney stuck with Ellen, releasing a statement that read: "Ellen represents the values of our company."

The two-dad ad has sparked a slew of comments across the Web. Most of the comments appeared to be supportive of J.C. Penney. One person wrote, "I haven't shopped there in years. I'm about to change that!" Another posted, "Kudos JCP. If I can get over my disdain for malls, I just might have to stop by your store now and then."

A Gawker commenter wrote, "I'm pretty sure J.C. Penney did this on purpose to get more attention. Before the whole Ellen thing, when was the last time you heard about J.C. Penney, other than the fact that they were failing. Now they're getting all this free press. Smart move JCP!"
The mostly positive feedback is much needed by J.C. Penney as several weeks ago, the retailer released quarterly earnings that sent its stock tumbling. CEO Ron Johnson's business strategy has been to implement daily low prices instead of frequent sales and discounts, but shoppers haven't been buying it.  Total sales fell 20% and gross margins and foot traffic also dropped, according to Yahoo! Finance's Daily Ticker.

This isn't the first time a famous brand has released an advertisement supporting same-sex relationships. Two years ago, McDonald's released a commercial advertisement in France that featured a teen boy flirting with his boyfriend on the phone. The tagline reads, "Come as you are" in French. "We wanted to show society the way it is today, without judging. There's obviously no problem with homosexuality in France today," Nathalie Legarlantezec, a McDonald's spokesperson, told the French media.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday June 03 2012, 5:34 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0