I try to stay away from controversy on my little baking blog.
I have a philosophy… it’s silly I know.  But I believe that we can all unite over cake.  No matter your beliefs or views or politics, we can all come together and celebrate  with a beautiful and delicious cake.
When I heard that there was a controversy over a Cheerios commercial, I was deeply saddened.
After seeing the commercial, I literally had no idea what the controversy even was! In case you are as blissfully naive as I am, the issue was race.
Some people were upset that the husband was black and the wife was white and that they had an interracial child.
Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
I don’t want to be a part of the appalling silence anymore.
After reading some of the awful comments people have made, it’s clear to see that their minds are not going to be changed through some brief internet interactions. Â I am never going to argue someone into seeing my perspective.
Instead, what I do want to focus on is solutions.
This cake is simple. Â Overly simple some might say, but that was intentional.
I feel like the solution is simple.
Teach love.
I can certainly make sure that I am raising intelligent, well-mannered and considerate young people who understand that our inherent value is not based on appearance.
Simple.
I can model the behavior that I want to see in them. Â I hope that my children will see in me a love for others, regardless of physical appearance. Â I hope that they will remain blissfully ignorant of the pain and destruction caused by prejudice and racism for many, many more years.
  
Maybe we can all make a simple cake for someone you love!
Now. Â Do you want to know how I really feel about segregation?
 Ahem.
Just in case you want to make your own Cheerios Cake here is what I did:
Make the perfect white cake in two 8-in rounds and the best chocolate cake in two 8-in rounds.
I then whipped up a batch of chocolate buttercream to cover the cake.  There is no frosting between the layers.
Using Chocolate Cheerios, I spelled out the word “love”. Â For the individual slice, I just poured some more Chocolate Cheerios over the top to add some texture and depth of flavor.
That is one seriously gorgeous cake! Beautiful and unique idea!
That was one of the cutest commercials I’d ever seen and it broke my heart to hear all of the negativity surrounding it. I personally love Cheerios, specifically the multi grain ones because they have a bunch of different flavors. That’s how I like the people around me and in my life to look…monochrome can be so boring… Thank you for writing this 🙂 Continue to be blessed!
I have seen this commercial a dozen times, and until you told me why, I couldn’t for the life of me think of one reason for people to be upset. And I really tried to think of something before I resumed reading your post! I am continually amazed at the way that people are so judgemental and closed minded. I have twin 16 year old boys who have been raised and taught that no matter someone’s color, class, sexual orientation or heck, even their weight, that they are human beings and that we DO NOT judge. It is sad that more people do not teach their children to love and to give each and everyone a chance. If you only judge someone by what you see, you may miss the beauty that lies within. Racism is like an inherited disease. It just keeps getting passed from one generation to the next. American was built on diversity. I, for one, will support this company (Multigrain Cheerios are my favorite!), and I think that this commercial is beautiful!
Really? black and white? I didn’t know what the controversy was – if I were to guess, I thought it was maybe because I think the first word spoken is “God” and some religious group took offence to that. Up here in Canada, we didn’t even blink.
Grow up people. This is 2013. Yes, we Canadians are liberal. We just celebrated the 10th anniversary allowing gay people to wed. And the first 2 guys who got married – well, they are still happily married to each other 10 years later.
Thank you for your well-spoken and well-chosen words… thank you for speaking up! The “controversy” is outrageous- this should not be an issue in today’s society! Cheerios response was perfect.
excellent post. After hearing the controversy i went and bought more Cheerios too. Kudos to them, and you!! people are people, and life is too short.
BRAVO! AND BRAVO TO CHEERIOS!! LOVED THE COMMERCIAL, LOVE THE CAKE! I SHALL MAKE WITH HAPPINESS.
You are the best! Thank you for having the courage to post this. More cake and less naps for everybody!!!
Like you, I never gave this commercial a second thought. Thank you for standing up and speaking out for all of us. And kudos to General Mills.
Wonderful post. Good for you. I am not one to throw my opinion out there for everyone to hear either, but we have to take a stand under certain circumstances – this is one of those times. I commend General Mills for their response to the ‘controversy’ created by people who unfortunately are focusing on the wrong “issues” in the world – this my friends is not an “issue” – the war is an issue, child hunger is an issue – this is a family.
Even though I chose to personally not purchase Cheerios based on ingredients in their products (I won’t go into further detail because that is for another place at another time), I will post how much I appreciate the companies tact and stance against those who are so fast to beat others down.