Hallmark Channel pulls ads featuring two brides kissing

The New York Times

The Hallmark Channel pulled four TV ads featuring brides kissing each other for the wedding planning website Zola on Thursday after a targeted campaign by a conservative group, reports The New York Times. Asked to explain why the ads were pulled, an employee of Hallmark's parent company Crown Media said the cable channel did not accept ads "that are deemed controversial." A spokesman for Hallmark, meanwhile, told The Times the women’s “public displays of affection” violated the channel’s policies, but he declined to comment on why a nearly identical ad featuring a bride and groom kissing was not rejected. Earlier this week, One Million Moms, a division of the conservative American Family Association, published a petition urging Hallmark to “please reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples.” UPDATE: Zola responds by pulling its ads from Hallmark Channel.