Hallmark Channel faces criticism, boycott calls over same-sex wedding ads

LOS ANGELES: The Hallmark Channel was under fire and facing bitter criticism on social media Sunday over its decision to pull ads for a wedding-planning website that featured two brides kissing at the altar.

Hallmark’s move,  at the  the time of  its high-ratings Christmas movie season ignited a firestorm on social media, where netizens criticized the network’s decision to pull the same-sex ads and called for people to boycott the channel.

The network pulled TV commercials featuring brides kissing each other on Thursday, after conservative group 'One Million Moms' complained and called for a boycott of the network.

Zola began airing around half-dozen commercials on the Hallmark Channel earlier this month . Four of them featured a same-sex couple, while the two that weren’t pulled portrayed heterosexual couples, who were also shown kissing in one of the spots. 

The Network said  it had removed the ads because the controversy was a distraction,

She, during an  interview, added: "The Hallmark brand is never going to be divisive. We don't want to generate controversy, we've tried very hard to stay out of it ... we just felt it was in the best interest of the brand to pull them and not continue to generate controversy."