By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Follow
Oreo, the popular American cookie brand produced by Nabisco, is giving away limited-edition cookies each filled with different colors of the rainbow as part of a campaign to celebrate LGBT History Month.
Last Friday, Oreo began giving away 10,000 packages of special edition #ProudParent Oreo cookies, which feature “rainbow-colored creme,” to people who share a photo on social media showing what LGBT “allyship” means to them.
Kicking off the campaign, Oreo partnered with PFLAG, a national LGBT advocacy group, to create a 3-minute short film called “Proud Parent.” The film is part of the year-long Proud Parent Campaign.
The film features a young woman introducing her girlfriend to her parents. Her mother is very accepting of the relationship but her father does not appear to share her enthusiasm at first.
The father warms up to his daughter’s relationship when he walks in on the two women watching home videos of his daughter eating Oreos when she was younger. He ends up painting rainbow colors on the fence in front of the house, signaling his support of the same-sex relationship. “Did I do it right?” he asks as he embraces the two women with hugs.
The film, which features footage of the two women kissing and lying in bed together, concludes as the words “a loving world starts with a loving home” appear on the screen.
Viewers who find themselves in similar situations are urged to “show you’re a #PROUDPARENT.”
The final frame of the video features a heart-shaped Oreo cookie illuminated by rainbow colors.
On its website, Oreo states that it has been “bringing families together” for over 100 years and wants to “shine a spotlight on the powerful impact love & acceptance can have on LGBTQ+ youth.”
“Having a supportive, affirming family — and committed allies — is crucial for the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people,” PFLAG National Executive Director Brian K. Bond said in a statement. “We are grateful for our partnership with OREO, and for OREO’s commitment to our shared vision of a diverse and inclusive world, made better by loving, proud parents and allies.”
Oreo’s Twitter page has promoted the LGBT campaign. A promo for “Proud Parent” is the pinned tweet on its official Twitter account while a link to the short film’s website is displayed in the profile.
The cookie company’s 14 most recent tweets, Twitter threads and retweets, as of Monday morning, all promote “Proud Parent” and the LGBTQ+ movement.
Those hoping to receive a pack of rainbow Oreo cookies can post a picture on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtags #ProudParent and #Giveaway while tagging Oreo. The campaign runs until Oct. 31, unless all 10,000 rewards are claimed before then.
Subsequent tweets shared praise for the “Proud Parent” film and the campaign. The cookie company also posted a tweet celebrating National Coming Out Day Sunday and shared pictures of cookies colored to represent the colors of several different LGBT pride flags, such as the lesbian pride flag and bisexual pride flag.
The tweets featuring cookies colored to match the pride flags encouraged people to ask PFLAG questions about the flags. Another tweet declared “Pride doesn’t end in June and neither does allyship!”
This is not the first time that Oreo has declared its support for the LGBT movement.
In 2012, Oreo’s parent company, Nabisco, posted a picture on its Facebook page of an Oreo cookie with all of the colors of the rainbow as its filling.
Last year, Oreo partnered with the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) to give away “special edition Pronoun Packs” as part of an effort to encourage people to “share your pronouns with pride.”
Earlier this year, Oreo collaborated with PFLAG on a “Back to School” guide illustrating “3 ways you can help make a difference by being an ally.” One of the suggestions on how to “be an ally in the classroom” involved asking people to identify their pronouns when introducing themselves to others.
