The commercial ends with the word “Love” on screen.
The spot, heartwarming to many, began on national television on Monday and was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday. But it has caused a furor for the maker of Cheerios, General Mills, because an interracial cast portrays the family.
The advertisement, which features a black father and white mother, has generated vituperative comments online, but General Mills says it stands by the commercial.
The ad will “absolutely not” be withdrawn, Meredith Tutterow, associate marketing director for Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios at General Mills in Golden Valley, Minn., said Friday.
“There are many kinds of families,” Ms. Tutterow said, “and Cheerios just wants to celebrate them all.”
The casting has attracted angry comments, many of them overtly racist. The volume of negative remarks on YouTube reached the point that General Mills has temporarily disabled the commenting function.
