Pro-Choice Ad Controversy and the Super Bowl: Internet v.s. Prime Time

Tomorrow is the most sexist day of the year (next to Groundhog's day of course). And by "sexist" we mean "sexy." It's sexy to watch commercials of men drinking beer, and even sexier to watch women drinking the lighter version of the same brand of beer.  Speaking of staying thin, you know what makes you gain weight ladies - pregnancy. What does pregnancy have to do with The Super Bowl? Well Christian group Focus on the Family is reportedly paying CBS 2.5 million dollars to air an ad starring the "almost aborted" football star Tim Tebow during the year's most watched sports event.

The gist of the ad is such: Tebow's mother contracted a disease (on a missionary trip of course), and doctors thought the treatment she needed would damage Timmy T. The purported lesson is that the world might never have seen its greatest football star if Pam Tebow had listened to the doctors and had an abortion.  Along this line of reasoning: Maybe Pam shouldn't have gone traveling to scary disease-ridden countries?

Planned Parenthood immediately responded to the already controversial Tebow ad with their own campaign featuring professional football player Sean James and gold medal winner Al Joyner.
  Additionally, Cecile Richards the President of Planned Parenthood also starred in a video supporting Pam Tebow's decision to choose, in private, without government intervention.

Though we are not sure it was a response to the Planned Parenthood Ad, on Friday, February 5th,  Focus on the Family purchased four more ad spots in order to air a second ad during the nationally televised pre-game show. Sigh. As an alternative: the Women's Media Center will be featuring Gloria Steinem hosting "JOCK-OCRISY: WMC's Super Bowl Sexism Watch which starts Sunday at 5:30. 

The slew of counter-argument videos popping up online will not be able to draw the same eyeballs as the nationally televised Super Bowl ad. Still, people are taking to Youtube to voice their outrage, most notably The Raging Grannies who created this little diddy dedicated to CBS "corporate bull shit."


Other groups, like Not Under the Bus are also banding together to create videos in opposition to CBS's choice to air the Tebow ad. They are encouraging people who are upset with the Tebow ad to write CBS, sign petitions, and take to the internets to show their voice. 

Quite possibly, the safest way to prevent pregnancy is to have sex is with someone of your own sex. It's just a fact. Which brings us to yet another 2010 Super Bowl ad controversy. CBS Standard's and Practices department just recently declined an ad from a gay man's dating website called "ManCrunch."  



But interestingly enough this Snickers ad, where two male mechanics "accidentally" kiss was aired during the 2007 Super Bowl. We suppose the hair ripping Merkin scene out-manned the man kiss, and CBS Standards and Practices let the Snickers kiss slide. Note to self, CBS thinks man on man kissing is fine as long as it's a joke. Thanks to the protests and complaints of Gay and Lesbian advocacy groups, Snicker's was in a world of hurt for airing the homophobic commercial. The ad got yanked from television in 24 hours..

Most likely, most people will watch these ads with out a second thought. The question is will you? Maybe you don't think gay rights or pro-choice is an issue for you personally, but the question is where and why does CBS get to draw the moral line. 

If only a football was made of lambskin, not pigskin.

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