Doritos has been threatened with boycotts after it aired an Israel-based commercial showing gay and lesbian couples.
The global snack brand posted the minute-long advertisement to its Hebrew-language socials, ahead of Israel’s annual Family Day, or Yom HaMishpacha, as reported by The Times of Israel.
The ad – which has already received over a million views on YouTube – shows several diverse families, from a gay couple smiling and holding their child, to a lesbian couple with a set of new-born twins and a young daughter.
Heterosexual couples, a single father with his children, and a mixed-religious family are also shown, as the narrator concludes, “There are many families and they are all special and even if it takes courage to dare in all choices, all families deserve to be families.”
However, the ad quickly came under attack from conservative Jewish groups and figures, with some branding the visuals as “evil”.
“For the sake of the mental and spiritual health of the coming generations, we must boycott Doritos, which is trying to influence the natural family group by advertising its products,” tweeted Jerusalem’s far-right deputy mayor, Aryeh King.
“Judaism only recognizes a family with a man and a woman. I won’t get involved in the life of someone who chooses to live differently, but I won’t give my money to a company that uses it to harm my values, Jewish family values,” commented Twitter user, Emanuel Shilo.
West Bank settlement Rabbi, Baruch Efrati, added, “It is forbidden to recognize those who live like this as a family.”
However, many YouTube commenters expressed admiration for the new ad, with comments such as, “Thank you so much Doritos!”, “Very important, thanks for this amazing commercial ❤❤❤”, and “Congratulations Doritos, Everyone deserves a family” among others.
Doritos aren’t backing down, with the chip manufacturer releasing a responding statement saying it had no intention to remove or change the ad.
Doritos added, “We respect all views, beliefs and the diversity of Israeli society and have no intention to harm any group.”
