It looks like the advertising executives at CBS might have some homophobic issues. The company rejected two commercials featuring gay men for this year’s Super Bowl and this isn’t the first time.
Reports about the commercials exploded when Planned Parenthood and women’s advocacy groups expressed outrage over the decision to air an anti-abortion ad during yesterday’s Super Bowl. featuring University of Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. The controversial ad highlighted a CBS-implied policy to ban ads with any homosexual theme.
Ads previously denied include an ad bought by the United Church of Christ for both the 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls, which depicted gays and lesbians being accepted as members of their church. It began with two men holding hands, later showing them being turned away by bouncers. The ad cut to a screen with the words “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” CBS said the church’s commercial was rejected because of a policy against airing ads that “touch on and/or take one side of a current controversial issue.”
The broadcasting company policies that apply to this type of ad are not an outright ban, but require pre-approval from the corporation. That might leave a little wiggle room if there was consistency in applying the policy overall.
In 2009 and 2010 CBS rejected dating Web site mancrunch.com’s commercial. The ad shows two men in football jerseys watching a game. The men’s hands touch in a potato chip bowl and they start making out. CBS said there was a question of the company’s credit; the dating site said they were paying cash. Mancrunch wasn’t alone in being denied one of the coveted time slots.
Godaddy.com’s spot was rejected because there was a chance it might offend people. The ad shows a made-up football star in a pink outfit who starts a lingerie company when he retires. The domain host is known for its racy material, but this would appear to be one of its more tame commercials. Neither of the rejected ads advocate anything more than promoting their businesses through the most popular spots in television.
CBS broke their “long-standing” rule of banning advocacy advertisements when it aired the Tebow anti-abortion commercials Sunday.
At the end of each of the 30-second ads, audience members are advised to visit Focus on the Family’s Web site for more of the Tebow story.
Focus on the Family is known for its anti-abortion and anti-gay stance. In an interview with Jim Daly, president of the religious organization, Bob Tebow advises young women with unwanted pregnancies to not choose abortion. The organization offers counseling for same-sex attraction and calls it a “violation of God’s intentional design for gender and sexuality.” The decision to air a commercial by a group so strongly opposed to choice and homosexuality, while denying commercials depicting gay men and inclusiveness, demonstrates CBS’ bias.
The corporation said it approved the ad because of the economy and policy changes made to stay modern. If that’s the case why turn away an additional $5 million in ad revenue? Looking at their actions, it’s easy to see something far deeper at work. If they were looking to keep people from being offended they did a poor job. CBS needs to review not only their policy, but the people who are applying it and the reasons behind it.
Rhiannon Montgomery is a journalism senior and Mustang Daily reporter.
The GoDaddy.com commercial was shown during Super Bowl coverage. It was an odd but unoffensive ad. The mancrunch.com commercial would have been offensive. You list The Focus on the Family ad as being offensive, yet they said nothing about abortion or anything that would be considered offensive. If the media hadn’t played it up before the Super Bowl, it would not have been nearly as big news as it was. The only time someone who hadnt heard the media coverage would think it was anti-abortion is when the Focus on the Family logo was displayed.
You may not be offended or uncomfortable with 2 dudes making out, but I sure as hell would be uncomfortable and dont want to see it. If I want to see something like that i know where I can look, but I would also assume I could turn on a football game, and like any other weekend, not be subjected to something I dont want to see.
Before the homophobic claims are made, let me state I have no problem with mancrunch.com having a commercial shown, much as I wouldnt have a problem with Planned Parenthood or Focus on the Family having a commercial. The goal of the mancrunch.com ad was not to just promote their site, but also to shock audiences, gaining further news attention for their site. Even without paying a dime to CBS they have gotten plenty of coverage.
They could have made a eharmony.com or other dating site type commercial and it would have been shown. It was the explicitness of its commercial that got it denied.