Super Bowl Commercial: While Fox Rejected It, I'll Gladly Play It

The commercial is meant to encourage fans to look up John 3:16 and consider its meaning…

…The John 3:16 commercial was produced by Fixed Point, a religious advocacy group based in Birmingham, Alabama. The group was set to pay about $3 million to have the ad aired on Fox Sports during the Super Bowl this Sunday, which will reach over 100 million viewers.

Religious leaders have expressed disappointment and confusion, especially since Fox commercials tend to be riddled with profanity and offensive images. Ads in the past have shown men kissing each other and scantily-clad women, among other sexually suggestive imagery.

However, the message of John 3:16 will get to the public regardless of Fox’s views. Since the ban, Fixed Point has purchased local TV commercial spots in Alabama. The commercial will not air in other states, but is circulating quickly over the internet.

For a company that bills itself as “fair and balanced,” Fox’s actions seem to tip the scale in one definitive direction.

Read more here.

Super Bowl Commercials: What $100,000 a Second Will Buy

The above was in The New York Times and,

For decades, most Super Bowl advertisers followed a simple rule: Keep commercials under wraps until the moment they go on the air.

But social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have ushered in a new era, and marketers are doing what was once unthinkable. In addition to offering sneak peeks of their spots and revealing contents of the commercials, many, like the vacation rental company HomeAway, are going the full Monty and sharing the entire ads in advance…

Read on here.

Here is the Banned Jesus Hates Obama Ad

Here is the Jesus Hates Obama Ad that was rejected as a Super Bowl commercial:

CNN reports:

An online store called Jesus Hates Obama says a television ad it submitted to air during next month’s Super Bowl has been rejected by the Fox television network.

“Do I really believe (that) Jesus really hates Obama? No, but I do believe in freedom… as in the freedom to poke fun at the Obama administration when I don’t agree with their policies,” said Richard Belfry, who began selling Jesus Hates Obama merchandise in 2009, in a Thursday press release about the ad’s rejection.

A spokesman for Fox, which will broadcast the Super Bowl on February 6, would not say whether the network rejected the ad.

“If an advertiser wishes to submit an ad for consideration, we will review it and determine if it’s appropriate for air,” said Lou D’Ermilio, a spokesman for Fox Sports Media Group. “However, we do not provide information about the materials that may or may not have been submitted, nor do we discuss our broadcast standard polices.”

The Jesus Hates Obama website said in its release that it had received an e-mail message from Fox’s vice president for broadcast standards and practices that said its commercial was “deemed not acceptable to air on FOX during the 2011 Super Bowl.”…

The ad encouraged viewers to go to the JesusHatesObama.com site to buy merchandise, mostly T-shirts with messages including, “Jesus Loves You but hates Obama.”

The site is here.

Just as well. This is but another commercial shot in really poor taste.