If you missed the Tebow ad during the Superbowl, here it is. Believe me, it was missable. The message was so understated and Tebow’s part in it was so short, that I’m guessing most viewers probably didn’t even know what it was about.
And so the “Tebow Dust-up of 2010” goes into the history books not as a hyper-politicized pro-life smack-down, but as an understated pro-family short. The feminist groups that lobbied to have CBS pull the ad have to be feeling a little bit silly today. Their overreaction in advance of the game now looks pretty extreme in retrospect. And that is probably the most notable result of this whole spectacle. At the end of the day, pro-life Tebow looks really big, and his pro-abortion critics look really small.
[The full Tebow ad with an explicit pro-life affirmation is posted at the Focus on the Family website. You can watch it here.]
14 Comments
rach
yeah-what was it about?
john underdown
lol…he tackled his mom..
Andrew
I thought his mom getting tacked was a nice shot at the feminist critics. Here’s a submissive wife and pro-life mother and she is WAY tougher than you… That’s what I got at least…
Darius T
That wasn’t the version that played during the Super Bowl, though I did hear someone say that it played before the game began. The version that played during the game was cut in half and nearly incomprehensible. Very sad.
Lucas Knisely
Did anyone see the response by Planned Parenthood?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcxpuHF7jg
Sean James and Al Joyner are featured. I wonder if they know the statistical ratio of African American babies that are aborted, and if they did would still feel the same way after such a sobering and sad reality.
During President Obama’s state of the union address he said America should seek “freedom and dignity” wherever it can. How about we start with the smallest human life form: the unborn.
Travis Hilton
Our family’s response was the same as yours. Subtle is a polite way to describe it. Perhaps they did the best they could if thier goal was to fit in with the tone of the average super bowl commercial. I just thought the choice of the tackle was like an over-the-top sermon illustration- it takes away from the intended message. However, the argument by NOW was that this promotes violence was ridiculous.
Denny Burk
Travis, I agree with you. The ad was ineffective as a pro-life ad. There was another more serious version of the spot that Focus decided not to run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je0lYPUvTZc.
In any case, I don’t think either of them are all that effective. You have to go to the website and watch the interview to see a more effective pro-life statement.
Derek Taylor
The Tebow ad was intended to echo a much more effective ad that was created by a Catholic advocacy group last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CaBR3z85c
That ad was deemed offensive.
I guess any pro-life ad that is effective is also deemed inappropriate and/or offensive.
Brian Krieger
Interesting ad push in Atlanta:
http://www.lifenews.com/state4798.html
I actually don’t agree with calling abortion clinics racist (even given the roots of PP). I do, however, agree with identifying them as they are. Money makers. It’s a profit taking industry. As such, it doesn’t care who comes in, and, thus, I would say that blacks would apparently be a target demographic. Or so that’s my narrow minded view of life.
Travis Hilton
Denny, that one was an improvement without the silliness. But still, a lot of money and effort for a muffled message.
Lucas Knisely
While the ad itself may have been lacking in boldness and clarity, the pre-Super Bowl press got their message out, probably on a higher scale than the actual commercial by itself.
David
I agree that it was a bad advertisement. This was confirmed by USA Today’s AdMeter rating of #54 out of 63 Super Bowl ads. However, it did rate highly in Tivo’s Super Bowl ad research, and USA Today had a postgame article about how much buzz the ad generated. I still judge it to be a questionable expenditure of $2-3 million.
Donald Johnson
http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2010/02/12/tim-tebow-commercial-lowest-rated-of-super-bowl/?icid=main|htmlws-main-w|dl5|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fbackporch.fanhouse.com%2F2010%2F02%2F12%2Ftim-tebow-commercial-lowest-rated-of-super-bowl%2F
Supposedly gets last place, in the eyes of some.
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