‘The Berenstain Bears’ Distances Itself From Chick-Fil-A In The Wake Of Homophobic Controversy

Last week we learned that The Jim Henson Company decided to end their business relationship with Chick-Fil-A after company president Dan Carthy publicly acknowledged his company’s homophobic practices. The severed relationship meant that Henson would no longer make availble Muppets toys for the eatery’s kids meal offerings. CFA has now partnered with Harper-Collins publishing to offer children’s books in their kids meals in place of the Muppets toys but now the makers of that book title is now distancing itself from the eatery as well. The Berenstain Bears family has posted a message on their official website alerting people to the fact that they want no association with CFA’s homophobic practices.

Dear Friends,

Our publisher, HarperCollins, is marketing several of their Berenstain Bears titles through a kids’ meal promotion at Chick-Fil-A scheduled for August. This program was in development for over a year. We were unaware of any controversy involving Chick-Fil-A until July 25th.

The Berenstain family does not at this time have control over whether this program proceeds or not. We hope those concerned about this issue will direct their comments toward HarperCollins and Chick-Fil-A.

Sincerely,

The Berenstain Family

Kudos to The Berenstain Bears for, at the very least, posting this message online to do their best to distance themselves from CFA and their hateful practices. This message seems to imply that if the family did have “control over whether this program proceeds or not” that they would choose to end the relationship, much like The Jim Henson Company did. If they were fine with the association with CFA, they would not have issued a statement at all. What is very important to note here is that The Berenstain Bears books, like the Muppets of The Jim Henson Company, are geared towards children. It’s important that things marketed to children are not associated with homophobia and hate. As I understand it, the Berenstain book that is being offered at CFA in this kids meal promotion focuses on the Golden Rule (treat others as you would like to be treated). If this promotion proceeds, hopefully the people who choose to do business with CFA will learn something about the Golden Rule.

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Source: http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2012-07-30/the-berenstain-bears-distances-itself-from-chick-fil-a-in-the-wake-of-homophobic-controversy

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