Finally, I will present the realization of the lesson and explain the didactic decisions. Then, I will focus in the theoretical chapter on short films and commercials by presenting their definitions and arguments for their integration in the TEFL classroom. In a next step, I will provide brief information on the history of interracial relationships and current data on interracial marriages in the US. I will begin the seminar paper by depicting the commercial and the reactions following its release. The aim of this seminar paper is to develop a lesson plan on the sensitive topic of racism and its impact on individuals, families and society using the Cheerios commercial from 2013 and the debate it sparked on social media. These incidents are just a few examples demonstrating that the topic of racism remains relevant up to this day and is even reinforced by social media. While the confectionary company Katjes got massive reactions on social media for using a model with a headscarf representing a Muslim woman for the promotion of their vegetarian products (Poetzsch 2018), the health insurance DAK faced racist comments for putting up billboards with an interracial couple looking at the ultrasound image of their unborn baby (Schulte 2018). Also German brands have been attacked recently for using people of different religion or different skin colour in their advertisements. In May 2016, the clothing brand Old Navy prompted social media outrage with an advertisement which featured an interracial family consisting of a white father, a black mother and their mixed-race child (Perez-Pena 2016). But Cheerios is not the only brand which has been attacked on social media for its choice of casting. It received such a strong racist backlash on social media for its representation of an interracial family that the comment section of the company’s YouTube 2 channel had to be disabled (Stump 2013). ![]() This commercial sparked a controversy over race and what an American family should look like. In May 2013, Cheerios 1 released a television commercial portraying an interracial family which consisted of a white mother, a black father and their biracial daughter. One commenter on YouTube wrote: "Just goes to show you they start steeling at an early age!!! First Cheerio's next bikes then cares lol just like in real life.3.3 Short Films and Commercials in the TEFL Classroom In that commercial released in June last year, two black siblings are shown at their family kitchen table, when the older brother steals the cereal from his younger brother, who is in a high chair. In 2012, a Cheerios commercial was also targeted by racial slurs and comments. On Reddit the comments continued, and some turned the debate into the likelihood of a black man being with a white woman, against a couple with a white man and a black woman. One commenter also posted a racial slur about the likelihood of black men staying with their family, stating: "More like single parent in the making. The racial slurs also spilled over onto the Cheerios Facebook page where some commenters stated that they found the commercial "disgusting." Others commented that the concept of a happy mixed-race family made them "want to vomit." Some of the comments referred to "Nazis" and "racial genocide" and more than 600 dislikes were recorded for the video. The commercial seems cute and innocent to most, but a number of Internet trolls quickly took over the discussion on the YouTube comments board referring to the interracial nature of the family, which featured a white mother and black father. The next shot is of the girl's father waking up on the couch with a pile of Cheerios poured out over the left side of his chest where his heart is. The young girl then smiles and runs off with the box of Cheerios. She asks her mom whether Cheerios are good for your heart, to which the mother responds that they are. ![]() The 30 second commercial features a young girl talking about the nutritional value of Cheerios. ![]() However, a group of Internet "trolls" quickly began posting comments about the interracial nature of the ad, sparking such racially charged comments that YouTube eventually decided to close the comments section of the page to bring a halt to the discussion. The commercial features an interracial couple and their daughter, and was released by Cheerios on YouTube. A Cheerios commercial has sparked controversy after a large group of people started posting racially charged messages about the new ad on YouTube.
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