Several news sources, including the UPI, are reporting that Fox has refused to air a proposed Super Bowl commercial for Jesus Hates Obama: a conservative comedy website that sells anti-President Obama merchandise. For those who would like to view the spot and make their own decisions, the video can be seen below. For those who are not sure that they want to watch this type of material, consider this summary from the Huffington Post:
The ad shows two bobblehead dolls: one of Jesus and one of President Obama. As “Battle Hymn Of The Republic” plays, the video cuts between the two bobbleheads until Jesus seemingly makes the Obama bobblehead fall into a fish tank, whereupon the logo for the site comes up.
So What?
A commercial such as this would not normally capture my attention. Since I blogged about another would be Super Bowl commercial that will never be aired because of its objectionable religious content just a few weeks ago, I have a heightened awareness about the topic. For those wondering about the apparent message of hate found in the wording of the latest objectionable commercial one need look no further than the Jesus Hates Obama home page for an answer:
Do we really believe that Jesus hates Obama? Of course not.
However we believe in freedom . . . as in the freedom to make fun of the Obama Administration with novelty t-shirts. . .
Our products may be a joke, but so are the policies of this administration.
Networks have a right to say no to anyone seeking to purchase air time for their commercials. One would hope that the standards are clearly established, objectively measurable, and consistently followed. As a Christian and based on your understanding of both the religious pluralism of 21st century America and the normative standards for network television:
- Do you believe that the Jesus Hates Obama commercial should have been rejected? Why or why not?
- If the Feed the Flock ad had not been eliminated from consideration, had won, and became the proposed ad for Doritos and Pepsi MAX, do you believe that commercial should be rejected? Why or why not?
- Last year a controversial pro-life Super Bowl commercial from Focus on the Family featuring Tim Tebow was aired. Do you believe it should have been rejected? Why or why not?
- When commercials intended for the Super Bowl are rejected, does the rejection itself create a platform that allows the messages to reach an even larger audience and at no cost to the advertiser? If so, what can or should be done (if anything) to alter this?