NEW CHEERIOS AD FEATURES GAY FAMILY

Cheerios is launching "The Cheerios Effect," a new ad campaign across Canada this week that stars a gay family. Marketing reports:

The Cheerios Effect," is the colloquial name some have given to a phenomenon that anyone who's eaten a bowl of the cereal knows: when two Cheerios float in milk, they tend to attract one another thanks to surface tension. Cossette is using this as a jumping-off point to address the broader issue of social isolation and loneliness.

Even though the phrase "Cheerios effect" first popped up on Wikipedia in 2007, surprisingly, this marks the first time that the brand has ever used the phenomenon in a marketing effort.

We were in meeting with agency talking about issue of disconnection in society, this epidemic of loneliness," says Jason Doolan, director of marketing for cereal at General Mills Canada. "We talked about the history of Cheerios and the role it could play in bringing people together. Somebody stood up and said, 'You know, when you put two Cheerios in a bowl, they float together.' It didn't take more than 30 seconds on Google for someone to say, 'It's a real thing.' We think it's a perfect metaphor for human beings' desire to connect."

In addition to the spot about the gay couple, "the Cheerios Effect" campaign will reportedly feature about a dozen other stories, including grandparents and grandchildren, and young women who connect through sign language.

This isn't the first time General Mills, which owns the Cheerios brand, has shown support for gay and lesbian families: in June, Lucky Charms cereal launched a special LGBT Pride Month campaign, and in 2012, they forcefully opposed an effort to add marriage discrimination to the constitution in their home state of Minnesota.

Well done, Cheerios and General Mills -- thank you for supporting LGBT equality!

SOURCE: THE BILERICO PROJECT