This ad got me thinking that it's hard to argue with the point that our federal budget deficit is larger than it has ever been, and it is growing rapidly - that's a fact of record. For some reason, however, CBS decided that point was too "controversial" for the Super Bowl, and they elected not to run the ad.
That's their prerogative, I suppose.
But it does make me wonder what CBS means by the word "controversial." For example, one of the commercials that did make the cut for the Super Bowl featured an explosion of horse flatulence setting a woman on fire. Maybe that's not "controversial." Maybe everybody agrees that burn victims (especially female burn victims) are just funny.
Hmmmm?
wil.
That's their prerogative, I suppose.
But it does make me wonder what CBS means by the word "controversial." For example, one of the commercials that did make the cut for the Super Bowl featured an explosion of horse flatulence setting a woman on fire. Maybe that's not "controversial." Maybe everybody agrees that burn victims (especially female burn victims) are just funny.
Hmmmm?
wil.
The horse-fart commercial was hardly controversial. I'm sure some people thought it wasn't funny, I'm sure some people thought it was tasteless, but controversial? Come on. Remember the truck commercial, when the guy was choking on beef jerky? Choking to death isn't funny, but that commercial wasn't controversial. However, lots of people thought it was disgusting and tasteless.
As for the anti-Bush ad, I think the Super Bowl is like meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time. You try to avoid politics and religion. Over the years, the networks have stuck to this philosophy (most of the time) when it comes to Super Bowl commercials.
ANTI-BUSH AD CONTEST SUBMITS SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL
Spot Produced By a Leo Burnett Creative Director on His Own Time
January 13, 2004
QwikFIND ID: AAP28Q
By Ira Teinowitz
WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- Liberal activist group MoveOn.org announced it has chosen an anti-President Bush ad to air ahead of next week's "State of the Union" address and said
The spot features young children working factory jobs to pay off the national debt.
The winning anti-Bush TV commercial was produced by Charlie Fisher, the creative director of the Copenhagen, Denmark, office of Publicis Groupe ad agency Leo Burnett.
On own time
Mr. Fisher was not available for comment at the Copenhagen office. A spokeswoman for MoveOn said Mr. Fisher created the ad "on his own time."
A spokesman at Leo Burnett USA's Chicago headquarters said the ad was shot in Denmark by a freelance director and a two-person crew who were friends of Mr. Fisher.
The Burnett spokesman said that because the work was done by an employee on his own time, the agency had nothing to do with the submission.
A spokesman for CBS said the Viacom-owned network has received the request from MoveOn to run the ad in the Super Bowl, but added that the ad has to go through standards and practices before CBS will say if it can run an advocacy ad during the game. The spokesman said he didn't think it was likely that the spot would pass standards and practices.
Competition for :30 spot
The winning ad was developed after MoveOn created a competition aimed at finding a filmmaker who can articulate everything that's wrong with the Bush administration in a 30-second spot.
Mr. Fisher's spot shows young children working in a variety of manufacturing or service industry jobs -- hauling garbage, repairing tires, clerking a checkout counter -- and ends with the line "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?"
A MoveOn spokesman said the ad, which was chosen from a number of entries, will have an initial national run starting with a $300,000 CNN buy that breaks Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 21; a 60-second ad will incorporate not only the winning spot ad but a description of the contest and mention of some of the other entries. President Bush's State of the Union speech is Jan. 20.
Hitler ad
The contest, was announced in October and received more than 1,500 submissions, some of which were posted on MoveOn's Web site (www.bushin30seconds.org). The contest garnered a certain amount of notoriety after the Republican National Committee expressed outrage that submissions pictured on the group's Web site compared President Bush to Adolph Hitler.
Early this month the group apologized for allowing the Hitler ads to slip through, but accused the RNC of being "deliberately and maliciously misleading" in suggesting that the ads were anything other than contest submissions.
MoveOn, which includes a political action committee and a voter fund (which handled the contest), said a panel of celebrities and political consultants judged the submissions. Panelists included political strategists Donna Brazile and James Carville.
'Fear and loathing'
Reacting to the winning ad, Republican National Committee press secretary Christine Iverson said, "They should have called the contest 'Twenty seconds of fear and loathing of George Bush.' It proves what we have said all along: The Democratic presidential candidates have a message of protest and pessimism but bring no positive ideas to the debate."
As for the anti-Bush ad, I think the Super Bowl is like meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time. You try to avoid politics and religion. Over the years, the networks have stuck to this philosophy (most of the time) when it comes to Super Bowl commercials.
ANTI-BUSH AD CONTEST SUBMITS SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL
Spot Produced By a Leo Burnett Creative Director on His Own Time
January 13, 2004
QwikFIND ID: AAP28Q
By Ira Teinowitz
WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- Liberal activist group MoveOn.org announced it has chosen an anti-President Bush ad to air ahead of next week's "State of the Union" address and said
The spot features young children working factory jobs to pay off the national debt.
The winning anti-Bush TV commercial was produced by Charlie Fisher, the creative director of the Copenhagen, Denmark, office of Publicis Groupe ad agency Leo Burnett.
On own time
Mr. Fisher was not available for comment at the Copenhagen office. A spokeswoman for MoveOn said Mr. Fisher created the ad "on his own time."
A spokesman at Leo Burnett USA's Chicago headquarters said the ad was shot in Denmark by a freelance director and a two-person crew who were friends of Mr. Fisher.
The Burnett spokesman said that because the work was done by an employee on his own time, the agency had nothing to do with the submission.
A spokesman for CBS said the Viacom-owned network has received the request from MoveOn to run the ad in the Super Bowl, but added that the ad has to go through standards and practices before CBS will say if it can run an advocacy ad during the game. The spokesman said he didn't think it was likely that the spot would pass standards and practices.
Competition for :30 spot
The winning ad was developed after MoveOn created a competition aimed at finding a filmmaker who can articulate everything that's wrong with the Bush administration in a 30-second spot.
Mr. Fisher's spot shows young children working in a variety of manufacturing or service industry jobs -- hauling garbage, repairing tires, clerking a checkout counter -- and ends with the line "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?"
A MoveOn spokesman said the ad, which was chosen from a number of entries, will have an initial national run starting with a $300,000 CNN buy that breaks Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 21; a 60-second ad will incorporate not only the winning spot ad but a description of the contest and mention of some of the other entries. President Bush's State of the Union speech is Jan. 20.
Hitler ad
The contest, was announced in October and received more than 1,500 submissions, some of which were posted on MoveOn's Web site (www.bushin30seconds.org). The contest garnered a certain amount of notoriety after the Republican National Committee expressed outrage that submissions pictured on the group's Web site compared President Bush to Adolph Hitler.
Early this month the group apologized for allowing the Hitler ads to slip through, but accused the RNC of being "deliberately and maliciously misleading" in suggesting that the ads were anything other than contest submissions.
MoveOn, which includes a political action committee and a voter fund (which handled the contest), said a panel of celebrities and political consultants judged the submissions. Panelists included political strategists Donna Brazile and James Carville.
'Fear and loathing'
Reacting to the winning ad, Republican National Committee press secretary Christine Iverson said, "They should have called the contest 'Twenty seconds of fear and loathing of George Bush.' It proves what we have said all along: The Democratic presidential candidates have a message of protest and pessimism but bring no positive ideas to the debate."
