NBC Rejects Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Educating Viewers on Obama and Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 29, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — NBC is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for rejecting a television commercial a pro-life group hoped to run during the Super Bowl. The ad shows a beautiful picture of an unborn child during an ultrasound and asks what would happen if President Barack Obama had been a victim of abortion.
The commercial, a popular one in recent weeks within the pro-life movement, is sponsored by the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis and its CatholicVote web site.
After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago told the group late yesterday that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving "political advocacy or issues."
Brian Burch, president of the pro-life group, told LifeNews.com he is upset that NBC officials rejected what he calls a uplifting and positive pro-life ad.
“There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years," Burch said.
"We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of every human life," he told LifeNews.com.
Burch said NBC told Fidelis that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements.
"But that’s not what they told PETA," he said about the network’s recent decision to reject an ad from the animal rights group. “There’s no doubt that PETA is an advocacy group. NBC rejected PETA’s ad for another reason altogether.”
According to an email posted on the PETA web site, Victoria Morgan, Vice President of Advertising Standards for Universal, said, "The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.”
Morgan also talked about edits that need to be made” in order for the PETA spot to run during the Super Bowl.
Burch responded to that rejection further by saying, “NBC claims it doesn’t allow advocacy ads, but that’s not true. They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness. Our ad is far less provocative, and hardly controversial by comparison."
“The purpose of our new ad is to spread a message of hope about the potential of every human life, including the life of Barack Obama,” Burch told LifeNews.com. “We are now looking at alternative venues to run the ad over the next several weeks.”
The ad aired on BET in Chicago on Inauguration Day and it has become an Internet sensation with over 700,000 views in seven days. The CatholicVote ad was in the top 10 "most viewed" category on YouTube on Inauguration Day last week.
The ad says: “This child’s future is a broken home. He will be abandoned by his father. His single mother will struggle to raise him. Despite the hardships he will endure…this child…will become…the 1st African-American President.”
The television spot, the first of several ads in new campaign launched by CatholicVote.org, concludes with the tag line, “Life: Imagine the Potential.”
The CatholicVote.org web site is a project of the Fidelis Center for Law and Policy.
ACTION: Send your complaints about the rejection of the ad to Victoria Morgan, Vice President, Advertising Standards, NBC Universal, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 1825 E. New York, NY 10112. Call (212) 664-4267 or fax (212) 664-6366 or email [email protected]
Related web sites:
CatholicVote – https://www.CatholicVote.org
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