your moment of glenn Not to be left out of the Super Bowl advertising controversy, or really, lack thereof, Glenn Beck opened his show today with a quick review of two of last night's most talked-about ads. Namely, Tim Tebow and Betty White. Beck mocked NOW's "outrage" over the Tim Tebow ad -- they apparently think Tebow tackling his mother glorifies violence against women. Which yes, seem like a bit of misplacement of resources. Beck followed up by wondering where was the outrage over Betty White's ad?! Says Beck: "It's not just violence against women, it's violence again old women! Why the hate from NOW?" Or ball-busting ones, depending. (more...)

video Uncontroversial, that is, in terms of what is shown and what is literally said. When it comes to coded language, connotation and sponsorship, though, the ad is exactly the spark plug it promised to be. The Tebow Story is, of course, the work of Focus on the Family, the controversial evangelical nonprofit, and comes along with the tag line "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life™." The intentions are clear to anyone paying attention, but the commercial itself is beyond tame. The spot never mentions abortion or public policy at all - on screen, it's just sweet family goodness. (more...)

You know, I had no problem with Tim Tebow's pro-life Superbowl ad. It was fundamentally about choice - about the choice of a mother to keep her baby, which is a choice that resulted in a talented and seemingly highly moral, decent kid who happens to be a ginormous football star. I am pro-choice, but I don't consider that inconsistent at all with pro-life — there's no way that having an abortion, ever, is an easy decision, and it more often errs on the side of absolutely wrenching, not to mention physically debilitating. (more...)

When I first brought up Tim Tebow's Super Bowl ad with Focus on the Family a month ago, I probably should have staked out that I thought it would become a big deal. (more...)

Yesterday, we carried a story about CBS’s precedent-upending decision to run a “pro-life” advocacy ad by Focus on the Family during the Super Bowl. The ad is to feature Tim Tebow – the Heisman award-winning QB renowned, among other things, for his habit of quoting Hebrews with his eye-black.  In it, Tim and his mother recount, allegedly without visible embarrassment, the saga of Tim’s conception, career as a fetus, and birth. You will be slightly less than astounded to learn that news of the ad has gone over very well with some, and very badly with others. (more...)

The Super Bowl story of the week, overshadowing the miraculous rise of the New Orleans Saints, is the brewing controversy over the approval by CBS of a 30 second ad sponsored by Focus on the Family to be played during the fourth quarter of the Feb. 7 game.  The ad will feature University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mom talking about the fact that she was encouraged by doctors to abort the pregnancy that resulted in Tim’s birth. (more...)

video CBS and other networks have longstanding policies not to air "advocacy" commercials, which provoke viewers to take and possibly even discuss their stances on public issues. This Super Bowl Sunday, however, CBS is making an exception. A big one. (more...)

Though we came very close to a television doomsday, Time Warner and Fox parent company News Corporation reached a last minute deal that prevented a blackout of Fox stations on the cable service, the New York Times is reporting. (more...)

Even if you don't know about college football, by today, at least, you've heard of Tim Tebow, the wunderkind quarterback of the Florida Gators who played his last college football game tonight. Tebow has what the New York Times calls "cartoonish statistics" and is a thrice-nominated Heisman trophy winner (the first sophomore to receive it), was the first NCAA player to rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a single season, has won all sorts of awards and championships, and, tonight, was the 2010 Sugar Bowl MVP. (more...)