MSNBC apologizes for tweet taunting conservatives over Cheerios Super Bowl ad starring biracial child
The tweet was sent from the network’s official account and was aimed at conservatives, assuming they would be offended by the upcoming Super Bowl spot that revisits an interracial family featured in a 2013 ad. MSNBC later apologized and removed the tweet.
By Leslie Larson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
MSNBC is backtracking after it used its Twitter account to taunt conservatives over the Cheerios ad starring an interracial family that will air during the Super Bowl.
“Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,” read a tweet posted late Wednesday on the MSNBC account, providing a link to a short article on the news website about the ad.
MSNBC apologized for the “offensive live tweet” and then deleted the message.
“The Cheerios tweet from @msnbc was dumb, offensive and we’ve taken it down. That’s not who we are at msnbc,” MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe tweeted.
Ironically, it was just weeks ago that the network’s own host, Melissa Harris-Perry, had to apologize to Mitt Romney for mocking his adopted black grandson on her show.
Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin sounded off against the cable network, encouraging Republicans from mixed race families to share photos with the hashtag #MyRightWingBiracialFamily.
The social media effort was soon top trending on Wednesday night.
“You’ve been served, @msnbc. Take notice all the rest of you left-wing race card players. Your smears WILL be crushed,” Malkin tweeted to the cable network.
The 30-second ad in question is a follow-up spot to the Cheerios promo featuring actress Grace “Gracie” Colbert as the daughter of an interracial couple.
Gracie first appeared in a spot for the cereal company in May 2013. It was posted on YouTube and received so many racist comments that the company had to shut down the comments section.
“The comments that were made in our view were not family-friendly, and that was really the trigger for us, you know, to pull them off,” Camille Gibson, vice president of marketing for General Mills, told the “Today” show in June.
The racist reaction sparked an outrage and even caught the attention of then-New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray, who is African American.
During the campaign, the interracial couple and their son, Dante, posed for a photo sitting around their kitchen table, with a Cheerios box prominently featured at the center.
“Nineteen years of marriage and two children later, this is the first TV commercial I have ever seen with a family that looks a little bit like ours,” McCray wrote in the email to supporters about the ad.
“Cheerios is recognizing the changing face of America,” she added in praise of the company.
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