CBS Reacts To Controversial Tebow Super Bowl Ad
CBS responded to complaints over a conservative group's planned Super Bowl ad featuring football star Tim Tebow by saying that it had eased restrictions on advocacy ads and would consider "responsibly produced" ones for open spots in its Feb. 7 broadcast.
CBS said Tuesday it had received numerous e-mails -- both critical and supportive -- since a coalition of women's groups began a protest campaign Monday against the ad, which the critics say will use Tebow and his mother to convey an anti-abortion message.
Funded by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, the 30-second ad is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child. She later gave birth to Tim, who won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and helped his Florida team win two BCS championships.
CBS said Tuesday that the decision to air the Tebow ad reflected a change in its policies toward advocacy ads that has evolved over the past several years.
"We have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms," said spokesman Dana McClintock. "In fact, most media outlets have accepted advocacy ads for some time."
He said CBS "will continue to consider responsibly produced ads from all groups for the few remaining spots in Super Bowl XLIV."
In 2004, CBS was criticized by many liberal organizations for rejecting an ad by the United Church of Christ highlighting the UCC's welcoming stance toward gays and others who might feel shunned by more conservative churches.
CBS said Tuesday that, under its new policies, the UCC ad would have been accepted for airing. The network said that it has run ads in the past year or so with divergent views on topics such as the health care overhaul, climate change and energy policy.
Thirty-second commercials during the Super Bowl are selling for $2.5 million to $2.8 million.
On Monday, a coalition led by the New York-based Women's Media Center, with backing from the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation and other groups, urged CBS to scrap the Tebow ad.
"An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jehmu Greene, president of the media center.
Tebow versus Mancrunch
Today will see the New Orleans Saints, an American football team famed for its past haplessness, take on the Indianapolis Colts, a longtime powerhouse, in the Super Bowl. The on-field action should keep most fans glued to their couches, unless it's a blowout.
This year, political junkies will be on the edge of their seats for something else: a political controversy over the ads. Focus on the Family is running a spot about Tim Tebow—one of the best two or three players in college football, and a highly-touted future professional. Mr Tebow, with the biblical verses he wears on the black glare-protectors under his eyes, and his public promise to save his virginity for marriage, is probably the most outspokenly Christian sporting star in the country.
The ad will feature Mr Tebow and his mother, who was a missionary in the Philippines when he was born. She became ill and her placenta partially detached. Doctors, fearing for her health, counselled abortion. Insead, Ms Tebow will say, she prayed, and her superstar son was born healthy. Abortion-rights groups are furious. The Super Bowl's producers have, by tradition, rejected advocacy ads during the game.
CBS, the network airing the Super Bowl, then added fuel to the controversey by turning down, as "not within the network’s broadcast standards", a lighthearted ad for a gay dating site called ManCrunch. What was so offensive that CBS could not bring itself to air it? Two manly fans' hands meet in a bowl of crisps as they watch the game at home; humorously exaggerated passions ensue. We don't even see the men's lips meet, since one has practically tackled the other on the couch. A slightly stunned friend watches from the next chair.
CBS's decision to air the Tebow ad has gotten most of the attention, but it is the rejection of the ManCrunch ad that rankles me. America's first-amendment tradition is so robust that even though no one has a constitutional right to have their views disseminated by CBS, we understandably expect those who sell advertising space to sell it fairly.
And the decision not to air the ManCrunch ad can only be due to rank homophobia—the family-friendliness of past Super Bowl ads has allowed for bikini waxes, dogs attacking crotches, farting horses, erectile-dysfunction drug pitches and more, and that in just one typical year. One year, a Snickers bar, being eaten from its two ends, results in two sweaty non-gay males horrified to find themselves accidentally kissing. Acceptable, of course—becasue the joke is on the gays.
It's often said that outrageous ads are made to be rejected by the networks at Super Bowl time, for free publicity, and some think that this is what ManCrunch did.
But to believe that, you have to find the idea of two men kissing outrageous. Increasingly, Americans don't—we've just had the first gay love scene on a daytime soap opera. CBS is simply thinking as Bill Kristol does about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"—even if people's prejudices are unjustifiable, they must be deferred to. Shame on CBS, for making a decision both controversial and cowardly at the same time.
ManCrunch SuperBowl Ad REJECTED: Gay Dating Site Ad Denied By CBS
CBS has rejected an ad from gay dating site ManCrunch, telling the site that the ad "is not within the Network's Broadcast Standards for Super Bowl Sunday.", James Hibberd reports at The Live Feed.
CBS released the following statement:
"After reviewing the ad - which is entirely commercial in nature - our Standards and Practices department decided not to accept this particular spot. As always, we are open to working with the client on alternative submissions."
Hibberd reports that CBS believed ManCrunch was trying to generate free publicity by submitting an ad that was likely to be rejected.
"We're 100% serious," ManCrunch spokesperson Elissa Buchter said. "We have the money to pay for it. If the ad showed a man and woman kissing it would have been accepted. You see ads for erectile dysfunction morning, noon and night. It's discriminatory that they wont show this....They should call our bluff. If the ad doesn't air on the Super Bowl, it will air on another network. It's not like it plays like Adam Lambert [kissing another man on the AMAs]."
Original Post: CBS is considering airing an ad for gay dating site ManCrunch, Fox News reports.
On the heels of the network's decision that advocacy ads are acceptable, ManCrunch says CBS has not rejected its ad — which includes two male football fans making out.
A rep for ManCrunch told Fox News that CBS said "the spot hadn't been officially approved yet" as of last week, but "all the Super Bowl spots were sold out."
"ManCrunch requested the spot get reviewed anyway just in case another advertiser drops out and a spot becomes available, as often happens, and CBS agreed," the rep said.
A CBS rep told Fox News that "the ad is still under review, the process takes a little while....We still have a lot of ads we have yet to review."
Sources: CBS, Fox Sports, Fox News, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Economist.com, Democracy In America, Wikipedia, Planned Parenthood, Mancrunch, Youtube
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