The Super Bowl has been an American tradition where two of the nation’s best football teams compete to win the title of ultimate best. However, this running tradition may be turning into a political event this year because CBS has decided to air an ad from a Christian coalition group called “Focus on the Family.”
The ad is said to be centered around one woman’s choice not to have an abortion. The woman had contracted a disease when she was pregnant with her fifth child, which would force her to take medicine that would harm her unborn fetus. Her doctor advised her to have an abortion, but she decided against it. She, instead, decided to go through with her birth and her son grew up to be Tim Tebow, the star football player for the Florida Gators. The message is that if you choose “life,” you can get an outstanding child.
Many people, especially women’s groups, have criticized CBS’ decision to air the ad. They believe that it is wrong for CBS to bring up this political issue in a non-election year. They believe that since CBS has chosen to highlight one side of the abortion issue then it should give the other side an equal amount of coverage. However, equal time is only an enforced law during a national election time period. CBS has the freedom to choose which ads to air during the Super Bowl.
CBS has defended itself saying that the ad does not directly address “abortion.” It is only going to show Tim Tebow and his mother, asking people to “Celebrate family” and “Celebrate Life.”
I disagree with CBS’ decision to air the ad because, like some women’s groups have said, it further enhances the belief amongst the public that having an abortion is a disrespectful act.
It furthers the idea that abortions, though a right given by Roe v. Wade, is still an act that women should feel ashamed about. This is the reason why CBS should not have chosen to air it. They should have known that it would have brought up debate on this deep-seated issue. It has turned the Super Bowl into a political event.
Whoopi Goldberg and the women of the View discussed the ad. She furthered this same belief that abortion should not have such a stigma surrounding it.
“If you CAN have your baby, have your baby, but if you CAN NOT do it, you should not be made to think there is something wrong with you for making that choice.”
The fact of the matter is, this state of mind that there is nothing wrong with making the choice to have an abortion is a long way coming and the ad does nothing to help it.
Effective Response 
I suspect the CBS’ decision to air the ad was partially out of this assumption that it would give increased coverage to the ‘controversy’ of airing this ad. So while they may very well side with your opinion, with television ratings going down by the day they probably wanted to create this uproar in order to increase ratings and encourage people to find out what all the fuss is about. From a political perspective it’s outrageous but from a ratings perspective it’s genius.
Likewise, after so many years of being called liberal it helps offset that impression if they politicize the event not in a way that benefits Democrats but rather in a way that benefits the Christian Right. So Democrats might be willing to give them a pass this once and Republicans might reconsider watching them after seeing coverage they can relate to.
But perhaps its not this complicated at all, who knows? That’s the issue with trying to assume what others think and why they do what they do. My guess is the most that will come out of this is the ensuing pressure will be enough to discourage them from doing this again.
I would also like to add that Superbowl advertisements have a comedic theme to them. The ads are supposed to be funny and entertaining, which is why so many people actually pay attention to them, and in turn the ads cost so much money. When the Superbowl audience is expecting humor and they receive a pro-life Tim Tebow ad, people will tend to ignore or discredit the message the ad is attempting to send. Regardless of how you stand on the issue, the message is not going to be received as intended. The Superbowl was not the time or the place for that ad.
This is a pure first amendment issue. My own stance or the stance of any audience member who saw the anti-abortion ad is irrelevant. The group, “Focus on the Family,” bought the ad space and is entitled to have it aired. CBS does not cater to MADD or AA when they show Bud Light commercials ad infinitum, nor should they have to cater towards pro abortionists.
This article reflects my thoughts exactly…people should take a look…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102067.html
Another question however, is where does it stop? Would be people be making such a noise if were the NBA finals or the PGA Tour? Do we need some sort of agency patrolling TV stations to make sure they represent the sides of each issue, every issue anytime they want to air an ad? I have an idea. If someone doesn’t like a commercial…disregard the message or change the channel! Everyone is so caught up with the politics that no one even registered what Tebow’s mom said. Regardless of your stance on the issue, mine being more or less different than hers, I think her story is a really nice one. She could have died, but went through with her pregnancy. It shows the strength of her family. I wouldn’t mind listening to something like that…oh wait, the superbowl is about beer and more beer…and scantily clad women. I dislike some of the morals that ads (TV, magazine, radio, billboard) propose…but am I up in arms about it? Anti-smokign ads were once extremely controversial. Companies producing cigarettes even did an ad campaign showing doctors smoking to get people to change their minds. Even if America wants to pretend like these issues are not going on, the fact is they are.
As for the ManCrunch commercial, it very well could be (however unlikely) that the agency just didn’t like the quality of the commercial. Personally I think it’s funny and they should have played it, but the fact that they didn’t show this ad is a different issue. I’m sure everyone has watched it by now, but here is the link. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/28/mancrunch-superbowl-ad-ga_n_440773.html
Kyle outlined my opinion pretty well.
As you say that you believe that it should be illegal for CBS to air an ad, I believe that this should be perfectly legal. Making it illegal violates the constitutional right to the freedom of speech/expression. The government has no place telling CBS how to run their business. If CBS wants to air a potentially harmful ad, they should be able to. It is not violating any rights. They should also be able to fail without any aid from the government, but that is a whole other story…
I don’t think I said that it should be illegal. I said that I disagree with CBS’ decision air the ad. I most definitely think that networks have the right to show whatever ads they want to. I was merely stating the fact that during a national election period, networks are required by law to give equal times to both candiates, issues, etc. I just felt that CBS’ decision to air the ad made the SuperBowl a political event and brought one side to an issue that is very controversial and polarizing for many Americans. I merely believe that the ad did nothing to help the stigma surrounding the abortion issue.