Why the Super Bowl Doesn’t Need to be an Ideology-Free Ad Zone

If we never let someone to see the error of their way, then we end up in an endless loop of lunacy. CBS shouldn’t have rejected the UCC ad in 2004 for the same reason they shouldn’t change their mind on this ad: Super Bowl viewers are rational enough to handle a little ideological disagreement and networks need not play ideological nanny.

It’s fine to ding CBS for being cowardly in 2004, but the response should not then be–if you supported the UCC ad in 2004–that issue ads are a bad thing and therefore Focus on the Family shouldnt’ have their place at the ad table.  I found the UCC ad to be harmless (full disclosure: I grew up in a UCC church), but I also find–based on what we know–the Focus on the Family ad sounds harmless.

Controversy Means More Viewers, Not Less
I don’t watch the Super Bowl; I don’t even like football.  My Super Bowl tradition is to go out to dinner with friends because restaurants are blissfully quiet and free from Super Bowl hoopla. But I can guarantee that I will see the Focus on the Family ad because of the controversy.

The irony of the critics’ argument is that if CBS pulled the ad, it would instantly be released  by Focus on the Family to show how tame it was and it would be played wall-to-wall on the news shows and online.  Because of the controversy, Focus on the Family is likely to get even wider distribution of the ad because now it is “news.”

Jessica Grose at Double X said that although she is pro-choice, she doesn’t see the harm in running the ad because she doesn’t think it won’t change many minds.  Besides, Grose says, “[i]f pro-choicers believe this is such an important battleground, they should put their energy toward funding their own ad, rather than attempting to silence Focus on the Family (though that would be a phenomenal waste of money, just as the pro-life ad is).”

Like a politician who puts out a controversial ad just to get free air-time on the news, fanning the flames of the ad-war at the Super Bowl only means more publicity for the controversial ad.  The UCC, arguably, got more publicity from its ad when it was rejected–I mean we just posted it again–then it would have if CBS had let them run it during a Doritos and beer break in the fourth quarter.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.