Three Cheers for Cheerios

As a preacher I have always been a big fan of Cheerios.  More than one screaming child has been silenced by those marvelous little oat circlets!  And as a parent--well let's just say your American Express Card isn't the only thing you should never leave home without! They are practically indispensable at a certain stage of life!  Loving Cheerios--in a variety of flavors these days--seems so very American!  So wholesome!  It's even good for what ails you in the heart department.

So imagine my surprise when I heard this venerable breakfast cereal was under attack!  I should have seen it coming.  I shouldn't be surprised.  But it is 2013, isn't it?

In case you've missed it, Cheerios has a very delightful and sweet ad running right now about a little girl who asks her mother if it is true Cheerios are good for your heart, and then, when she is told yes they are, she scatters them all over her sleeping father's chest.  So what, you ask is the controversy?  Has someone determined the heart claims are all a big hoax?  Not at all.  The problem, according to some folks, boils down to race.  The Dad is black, the mother is white, and the little girl is biracial.

Like I said, it is 2013, isn't it?  But there are still folks out there who are upset by such a public display of racial equality.  That a black man would marry a white woman, horrors, such folks say, horrors!  Apparently the attacks against Cheerios on their website got so virulent, so nasty, that they took it offline.  But they haven't taken the ad off the air.  Bravo!  It is good to see a major corporation stand on principle!

My kids are all grown now--and the grandkids are past the Cheerios stage.  But I may just go out and
buy a box or two to show my support.  It will be good for my heart--just like the ad!