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Saturday August 20, 2011 2:10 pm

Advertisers Leave Pretty Little Liars Over Lesbian Characters




Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Gossip, News, Rumors,

Maya and Emily of Pretty Little Liars

Things are starting to get a bit controversial over at ABC Family.

Ever since Pretty Little Liars character Emily Fields came out as a lesbian on the show, it ruffled some conservative feathers over at the Florida Family Association (FFA), prompting the group to launch a campaign that aims to have advertisers pull out of the show over "irresponsible imagery" -- i.e., Emily's romantic scenes.

Read More | E! Online

The FFA described Emily's romantic scenes as "using salacious and glamorizing scenes portraying young, pretty women as lesbians," adding that it "sends the wrong message to these young girls, a message that reinforces and legitimizes this homosexual lifestyle in a manner that could affect these young girls' sexual identity for a lifetime."

Along with Remax Realty, another advertiser recently withdrew its ties to the show this week: General Mills. Naturally, the company appears to sing one tune to the FFA and another to the general public when it comes to why they pulled out of the show's advertising line-up.

The FFA published an email sent from GM's Director of Consumer Services Jeff Hagen, which read, "We have investigated this matter and confirmed that our advertising did air as you have reported. We have informed ABC Family Channel and our agencies that Pretty Little Liars is not a program that we will sponsor. Thank you for bringing this to our attention."

When asked by AfterEllen.com as to whether or not it was true that General Mills pulled ads over lesbian content, a rep for the company responded with this: "The decision is entirely based on the relevance of the show's audience for our brands, not because of the sexual orientation of individual characters."

The FFA is still actively pursuing its campaign.

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