JCPenney gets a bit of revenge on One Million Mom's failed boycott

[Gee Whillickers]

Here's a great response by JCPenney on the failed boycott attempt by One Million Moms after JCPenney hired Ellen Degeneres as a spokesperson.

It's a Father's Day ad, featuring a happy and smiling gay couple spending family time with their happy and smiling children.

Great job JCPenney.

http://gawker.com/59...-fathers-day-ad

[colinian]

Doug, Chris, Steve, and I will start buying from JCPenney. There aren't any in Berkeley, but we can go to Richmond or Concord both of which are about a 20 minute drive.

Colin

[Merkin]

That's fabulous. I never thought I'd see an ad from a mainstream retailer featuring a gay male parenting couple playing with their happy kids. That's just remarkable.

[Cole Parker]

Got to start shopping Penny's. Got to make the support likewise.

C

[blue]

It's open to interpretation. You'll see what you see.

For many months, I'd stopped buying from J.C. Penney's, after their credit card arm kept bugging me for charge of less than $30 dollars that turned out to be a late back order shipment, and I hadn't realized was there or due. I paid the bill and said never again, because their calls had been every day, multiple times a day, left on my answering machine while I was away at my grandmother's. They kept calling after I'd paid the bill for several days, until it finally trickled through their system. I went to the store itself to try to cancel the card, and was told I'd have to do that over the phone. -- This is all typical now for credit cards. (And I am rarely late paying on my cards or paying off the balance.) So I won't use their credit card. (Still gotta cancel the fool card, I forgot.)

The last couple of times I'd been in the store to look, I found the selection was poor or non-existent in my size, and I'm not some weird, abnormal size. The stock was pawed through, not well kept, half the clerks were nowhere to be seen, I left with a couple of essentials, but not what I'd wanted to buy in clothes. -- However, the same can be said of most stores now, from Wal-Mart to Sears to any other department store. The economy has meant drastic cutbacks, and nobody trains people for customer service anymore.

However, all that being said -- I will likely shop at J.C. Penney's again, without the store card, because their choices are nice -- and because they've been positive towards gay folks. Also because the last time I'd ordered from another store (Kohl's) the order took over five weeks to get there, despite it was supposedly in stock. So...these days, J.C. Penney's is really no worse than any other major retailer. Sigh.

Also, J.C. Penney's supposedly started in Texas and I've shopped there since before I was the one doing the shopping. When they are one of the only good choices, you go with them even if you have had a couple of bad experiences.

But -- That ad is wonderful. You may see it as two dads and their children. You may see it as brothers or friends. Still pretty great. I really love that ad. It's both subtle and strong, without having to be obnoxious. It gets across its point in a way where people might listen, whether they pay attention to the message or just see the ad. Good for them, I think that's terrific.

Ellen's cool too. She doesn't cuss every few seconds for no reason. Her jokes are funny. She stands up, quietly, for who and what she thinks, and she's been known to send not so quiet support too.

Yes, I'll be shopping at J.C. Penney's again. I hadn't seen that ad, glad I did.

[Gee Whillickers]

But -- That ad is wonderful. You may see it as two dads and their children. You may see it as brothers or friends. Still pretty great. I really love that ad. It's both subtle and strong, without having to be obnoxious. It gets across its point in a way where people might listen, whether they pay attention to the message or just see the ad. Good for them, I think that's terrific.

Take a look at the article with it. The family is an actual real-life gay couple and their actual real-life children, who agreed to do the photo shoot for the ad. True, most people who come across the ad in a flyer may not be aware of that, but JCPenney made a clear and conscious decision to do this right.

[blue]

That is fantastic. I have to check out the accompanying article (and enlarge the ad). Hmm... I haven't seen the ad locally. Dunno if it's appeared in my mail yet. Can you tell I've been throwing away a lot of ads and junk mail without even looking?

[Richard Norway]

Almost all large retailers use independent companies to manage their credit card sales and collectables today. They are not the parent company.

I laud JC Penny for their stance.

You know, as a kid I always loved their Towncraft, all cotton, tight-whities briefs.

[colinian]

Why use a JCP credit card? They take Visa/MC/Discover/Amex. That way you don't have to worry about their billing department.

They have my size in everything. But I'm easy to fit, 34W-32L (I'm tall in the saddle).

Colin