Ellen DeGeneres, Ron Johnson and the 'Million Moms' Debate: Winning the Values War
When the "One Million Moms" organization decided to use Facebook to bring pressure against retail giant JCPenney's decision to use Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson, they picked the wrong fight. Or at least they picked the wrong people to fight with.
One Million Moms, if you're not familiar with it, is one of the 'action' divisions of the American Family Association. AFA describes its mission, "...To inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture, and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission." Its philosophy is evangelical, using the Bible as the "ultimate truth".
OMM's decision to attack JCPenney is based solely on the fact that Ms. DeGeneres is gay - a fact about which she has been open for years. Since OMM considers homosexuality an aberration, in its eyes JCPenney is promoting and perpetuating a lifestyle that is unAmerican, unChristian and dangerous to society. (The organization also has a 'call to action' against Macy's for its "two grooms" advertisement.)
In contrast, there's Ms. DeGeneres and JCPenney's new CEO, Ron Johnson.
Johnson, you'll recall, is the architect of Apple's retail store success. Having previously been an executive with Target, he spent 12 years at Apple, working closely and directly with the late Steve Jobs to create what has become accepted as the benchmark for the premier retail experience worldwide.
Now Johnson is bringing the same clarity to the JCPenney shopping experience that he brought to Apple. But this time, in what he notes is not an industry-standard practice, the company is doing so with a spokesperson: Ellen DeGeneres.
Why did JCPenney select Ms. DeGeneres? According to Johnson, "She shares the same values that we do. Our company was founded 110 years ago on the Golden Rule. It's about treating people fair and square - just like you'd be treated yourself - and we think that Ellen represents the values of our company and the values we share."
Ms. DeGeneres, in her statement on her show about the 'controversy' thanked JCPenney and stated, "Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me those are traditional values. That's what I stand for."
And when you have someone as openly and actively conservative as Fox News' Bill O'Reilly agreeing - and comparing OMM's actions to "McCarthyism" and a "witch hunt" - you know you've won the values war.
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