I don’t know if you’ve seen this commercial yet. It shows a little girl asking her mother about if Cheerios is healthy. The mother responds that yes, the cereal is healthy. So the little girl pours a box of Cheerios on her father, who is napping on the couch.
Cute.
Of course, that’s not the main part of the commercial that everybody’s talking about.
Take a look and see if you notice anything. Anything that catches your attention.
That’s right. I know you see this. I wasn’t paying attention at the time, but sure enough I saw it. Clear as a bell. I gotta hand it to General Mills for even going though this process, for taking the right step in making such a commercial.
I mean, we shouldn’t be talking about what this commercial is about, we shouldn’t be discussing who is playing what role, and what the commercial is meant to convey. But, of course, we are.
And I’m going to stand up and say this right now, and I don’t care whose nose gets pulled out of joint.
That’s my buddy Whitney Avalon playing the mother in that commercial!
Yeah, Whitney Avalon, who has been working her way through the ranks in Hollywood, and who is about maybe six months away from earning a starring role in a sitcom at some point, plays the mother of the little girl in the Cheerios ad.
What, you thought I was going to talk about why the commercial features an interracial family? What, like you’ve never seen people from different races and different religions forge loving, committed, happy relationships? This is 2013, and if the only biracial family you’ve ever seen is Tom and Helen Willis, get out of your house and look around you!
Be that as it may…
I’m telling you… Whitney Avalon is going to make it to the big time before too long. She’s not going to be filming food commercials for the rest of her life.
Even if they do involve a cute little kid who dumps boxes of Cheerios on her father’s heart.
Chuck The Writer 
When I was a child( a looooong time ago) there was an family who was interracial that had a summer camp at Crooked Lake. Never noticed it at the time. Still don’t really.
I think Stephen Colbert said it best. “I don’t see color.”
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Its a lovely commercial. Unfortunately, the message is very much still needed. As in this wonderful example from Ohio in 2012 of a white woman who owned a duplex and had no problem with her white male tenant (with pool access as part of his lease).
No problem at all, until his biracial teenage daughter came to visit him, and the landlord put a sign up that said “Public Swimming Pool-White Only.” She claims she is not racist, but “If I have to stick up for my white rights, I have to stick up for my white rights. It goes both ways.”
See link:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/white-only-pool-sign-discriminatory-not-decorative-commission-rules/
There was also a rather notorious commercial a few years back by KFC that should a black family eating together, but no black father in sight. Can’t find the video online, but you find plenty of references to it.
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I have nothing against the commercial; however why is it so important to show a white woman with a black man. I live in California and depending on who you are this is a common occurrence. black men tend to be with every race of women but their own. They tend to want in order, Fillipino, White, Mexican, Bi-racial, then Black women, this is all in part due to media and the representation of beauty. All this commercial is doing is just reinforcing to Black men that a white woman is still what you should be aiming for. Look around most Back women are single parents because Black men tend not to be as marriage minded when it comes to being with a Black female, in my opinion cute commercial but not necessary we know interracial couples/ marriages exist.
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Cheryl Y.- It’s not important in and of itself, but its important that commercials are now reflecting actual life, wherebefore mixed race couples in commercials was and remains rare.
Your point about the commrcial showing a white woman as opposed to a woman from another race reflects more of your own insecurity about racial relations than society’s. Will you feel better if Cheerio’s releases teh same commercial featuring the black guy with a woman each race?
BTW-You forgot Inuit and Australian Aboriginal in your list of women who black men date.
To be perfectly honest, I find your attitude about black men to be biased, sexist, and incredibly patronizing. So, if you’re wondering who that commercial is meant for, I think it may be you.
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At least they aren’t gay…….
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Jango,
i agree on what Cheryl is saying.I can not rememember the last time i have seen a commercial with a black family sitting down at a table eating a meal.
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No offense, then you need to watch more TV. I see black families in commercials on a very frequent basis. Popeye’s Chicken for example, whose commercials are very often seen in this locality is one good example.
Most frequently seen in family-orientated programming more often in daytime hours.
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Jango
i agree with Cheryl’s comments, it might be offensive but true. I can not remember the last time i have seen a africian american seating at a table enjoying a family meal. Unless you want to say Mr. Obama.
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