Lesbian Moms, Mmm, Mmm Good

Campbell Soup is the latest company to realize the value of marketing to the $650 billion LGBT market—and specifically, to lesbian moms. They have run a two-page spread for Swanson’s broth in the Advocate, featuring two lesbian moms and their young son. The women, Lea Forant and Carolyn Montgomory, are owners of Café Forant in Manhattan, and apparently use Campbell’s Swanson chicken broth in preparing many of their Christmas Eve dishes.

The conservative American Family Association has already sent an e-mail to its members declaring “Campbell Soup Company embraces homosexual agenda.” The Advocate itself then covered the controversy, as did advertising trade journal AdAge (where you can see a large version of the ad).

So far, Campbell, which scored 100% on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, is holding strong, and says they will have further ad placements in the Advocate. No word from the moms on their reaction, although the Café Forant Web site notes that Forant is a die-hard Red Sox fan in New York. She’s tough, that gal. I don’t think the AFA will phase her.

I admit, I make most of my own soup, and don’t buy a lot of cans, but I do sometimes stock a few for emergency use. You bet this is going to affect my purchase decisions. Campbell’s also owns the Pepperidge Farm, Prego, V8, and Pace brands, which means I can justify buying more Milano cookies and support an LGBT-positive company at the same time.

You can express your support to Campbell’s by writing to Douglas R. Conant at Campbell Soup Co, Campbell Place, Camden, NJ 08103, (800) 442-7684 or (800) 257-8443, douglas_r_conant@campbellsoup.com, or by using the feedback form on the Campbell corporate website. (There’s also a separate form for Investor Relations.)