General Mills protest goes wrong when flaming Cheerios box sets lawn on fire

Cheerios, the fire hazard of champions.

A protest outside General Mills' company headquarters went horribly (and awkwardly) wrong when a protester taking a stand against the food giant's opposition to a proposed gay-marriage ban set the lawn on fire — with his box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

The Smoking Gun identified the gay-marriage opponent as 65-year-old Michael Leisner, a Minnesota real estate broker with a series of anti-gay YouTube clips to his name.

"One out of every eight boxes of cereal in this country is Cheerios. This is really the treat now for the homosexuals!" he says in the video.

After announcing, "We are going to torch some cereal," Leisner's protest quickly got out of hand, with flames spreading to the lawn. When he failed to stamp out the fire, he fled the scene.

He said he was confident the fire wouldn't spread, as the lawn was "saturated," but admits that law enforcement officials might want to speak with him about the incident.

"I suppose it's possible," he told The Smoking Gun.

Watch the gone-viral moment on YouTube.

YouTube commenters pointed out the irony of the protest, including the fact that Leisner probably purchased the cereal — General Mills made a profit off the protest.

[ Buzz video: Busy cat pushes shopping cart ]

The National Organization of Marriage called for a boycott of all General Mills' products, including its cereals, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and Pillsbury dough, the National Post reports. So far, General Mills is one of the most prominent corporate voices to oppose the proposed same-sex marriage ban in Minnesota.

"We respect and defend the right of others to disagree. But we truly value diversity and inclusion — and that makes our choice clear," said the company's vice president for global diversity and inclusion, Ken Charles.

The Chick-Fil-A protests of late tell the other side of the story, with pro-same-sex-marriage protesters staging a kiss-in in front of delicious chicken.

Some hot topics deserve a little more thoughtful debate than blowtorches and kisses. Leave that breakfast cereal alone.