Frank Witsil

Conservative groups are taking to social media to criticize a Kellogg ad featuring Frosted Flakes character Tony the Tiger that says, "Wear your stripes with pride," and sponsorship of a gay pride march in Atlanta.

But, others are firing back, voicing support for the Battle Creek-based cereal maker.

On its Facebook page, the American Family Association posted an image of the Kellogg ad, with the comment: "Guess who was a huge sponsor of the Atlanta Gay Pride march and festival last month? They even put an ad in the 'Pride Guide.' "

Responses to the post have been supportive of the nonprofit group and Kellogg.

"I guess they just lost our business...." one responder posted, while another said, "Good for them."

Mark King, global head of diversity, told the Free Press:

"Kellogg is firmly committed to diversity and inclusion and puts a tremendous amount of effort toward ensuring equality through our policies, benefits and culture. We are honored to have been named a Top 50 company for Diversity by DiversityInc, and for achieving a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index."

The news outlets and blogs have been picking up on the controversy.

The christianpost.com reported the company is "experiencing a backlash from Christian consumers," and said AFA responded that it wants companies to "remain neutral" in what it called the "battle over same-sex marriage."

On its website, Kellogg says it is "focused on community development and programs that support diversity," and "we see both diversity and inclusion as key drivers of success," including sponsoring groups for LGBT employees.

The ad shows the word PRIDE in rainbow of colors and touts the company as one of the "Best places to work for LGBT Equality."

It states: "At Kellogg, we're an evolving culture that respect and accepts employees' sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression so that all employees can be authentic and fully engaged."

Kellogg isn't the only cereal maker that has offered gay pride support — and faced criticism for it.

General Mills, Minneapolis-based the makers of Cheerios, released a commercial with a gay couple and their daughter.

Kellogg at a glance

The Battle Creek-based company, started by W.K. Kellogg in 1906, is one of the world's largest producers of cereal, cookies, crackers and snacks.

Employees: About 30,000

Annual sales: $14.5 billion

Ad: "At Kellogg, we're an evolving culture that respects and accepts employees' sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression so that all employees can be authentic and fully engaged."