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An Inclusive Doritos Ad Has Led to Boycott Calls in Israel

same-sex couples in Isreali Doritos ad
Doritos/Youtube

The ad created to celebrate the country's Family Day includes various versions of families, including two same-sex couples.

In the lead-up to Israel's Family Day, Yom HaMishpacha -- a holiday that began as a Mother's Day but has gone on to be one where all parents are celebrated -- Doritos released an inclusive ad featuring, among others, gay and lesbian couples. It's a move that, while appreciated by some, has the country's religious conservatives calling for a boycott of the snack company, according to the Times of Israel.

The ad, which was posted to Doritos' Hebrew-language social media accounts, shows a series of families as a narrator explains that family isn't something you choose. "But there are some families that do choose to be families. There are families created by the complex reality," continues the narrator while showing two women with babies and a young girl, as well as two women, who appear to be sisters, holding a photo of another woman, presumably their mother.

The ad then cuts to a single father and his children while the narrator explains that some people "have remained alone in this reality."

A gay couple holding a toddler is then shown as the narrator says, "There are families that traveled to the other side of the world on the path to [becoming a] family. There are many families and they are all special and even if it takes courage to dare in all choices, all families deserve to be families."

The ad celebrating some of the many, many ways people can be family, has spurred calls for boycotts from those who find its inclusivity offensive, including Aryeh King, a far-right deputy mayor of Jerusalem.

"For the sake of the mental and spiritual health of the coming generations, we must boycott Doritos, which is trying to influence the natural family group by advertising its products," he wrote on Twitter.

"It is forbidden to recognize those who live like this as a family," Rabbi Baruch Efrati, a rabbi in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, told his followers, adding they should not associate with "evil."

Emanuel Shilo, editor of the religious Zionist B'Sheva weekly, tweeted that Doritos should be avoiding weighing in on moral issues. "Judaism only recognizes a family with a man and a woman," he tweeted, adding he would be boycotting the company. "I won't get involved in the life of someone who chooses to live differently, but I won't give my money to a company that uses it to harm my values, Jewish family values."

Despite the outcry from the religious right, Doritos is standing its ground over the ad. "We respect all views, beliefs, and the diversity of Israeli society and have no intention to harm any group," Doritos officials said. It has no intention of altering or removing the ad.

The brand has shown inclusive ads across its markets before. Last year, an ad from Doritos Mexico showed a same-sex couple being honored during Dia de Los Muertos -- the Day of the Dead. It features a family paying respects to their late uncle, who turns up with his partner.

Watch the full ad from Israel below.

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Rachel Shatto