CBS says the ad was rejected because it has a policy against accepting advocacy ads, except for ads from political candidates. However, while the network refused MoveOn.org, it did not turn down ads from the like of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, the same office that produced sensationalist ads in the past years equating drug use with terrorism. (CBS says it accepted those ads because it does not know of anyone advocating use of illegal drugs, and therefore the message doesn't count as controversy.) This year, the Kaiser Family Foundation has placed an ad during the Super Bowl on the theme of "Know HIV/AIDS." Of course, there also will be tobacco giant Phillip Morris and major pharmaceutical companies—corporate friends of the Republican Party.
While millions of Americans cozy up in front of the television at this time each year to watch the Super Bowl, not all of them are there to watch just football. The Super Bowl also is famous for its commercials, and viewers often watch just to see what their favorite manufacturers and product-peddlers have to offer in terms of creative advertising. We've seen Britney Spears take her clothes off in the extended version of a Pepsi ad, the introduction of Anheuser- Busch's frogs croaking "Bud-weis-errrrr," and Apple's Orwellian commercial featuring Big Brother, all during the breaks of Super Bowls past.
Because so many people watch specifically for the commercials, the Super Bowl is the perfect means to deliver a message or sell a product. According to SuperBowl-ads.com, the average cost of a 30 second spot this year is $2.25 million. And that is all you need to buy a slot, right?
Wrong. At the end of last year, MoveOn.org, the online political forum, sponsored a contest, allowing creative people to submit a 30- second spot about the Bush administration or national policy. The ads ranged from fake infomercials to Bush quotes to Hitler comparisons. Some of the ads were professionally produced; others were clearly the brainchild of one guy with a camcorder. MoveOn.org had a panel of judges, including documentary filmmaker Michael Moore ("Bowling for Columbine") select winners. MoveOn.org planned to purchase time and show the winning ad during the Super Bowl. This year, CBS, which will broadcast Super Bowl XXXVIII, has refused to air the commercial.
The reason for the denial is that the ad is too controversial. It shows children performing working-world tasks such as washing dishes, collecting garbage and on an assembly line, and ends with the rhetorical question, "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?"
CBS says the ad was rejected because it has a policy against accepting advocacy ads, except for ads from political candidates. However, while the network refused MoveOn.org, it did not turn down ads from the like of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, the same office that produced sensationalist ads in the past years equating drug use with terrorism. (CBS says it accepted those ads because it does not know of anyone advocating use of illegal drugs, and therefore the message doesn't count as controversy.) This year, the Kaiser Family Foundation has placed an ad during the Super Bowl on the theme of "Know HIV/AIDS." Of course, there also will be tobacco giant Phillip Morris and major pharmaceutical companies—corporate friends of the Republican Party.
The only controversy here is CBS's action. The MoveOn.org ad is not a slander ad. It uses facts to expose inequity, contradiction, and inconsistency of the Bush administration. The broadcast airwaves are supposed to be public domain, and to forbid a message solely on its viewpoint is abusive. The Web site of CBS contains a "Diversity Message" from Chairman and CEO Les Moonves that states, "As broadcasters, we aim to ensure that our national viewing audience is reflected in our programming and our peoplewe continue to be steadfast in our goal to become more diverse and more representative of the public we serve."
Refusing to accept the MoveOn.org ad is a clear violation of CBS's own ethical statement, a contradiction to its self-proclaimed public mission. Clearly, this is an example not of diversity or impartiality, but of an attempt to cultivate homogeny within the media.
Why would CBS contradict its own "diverse" public mission? MoveOn.org contends that CBS, whose parent is the corporate conglomerate Viacom, is returning a favor to the White House and the Republican Party. The GOP and friends lobbied hard for new federal rules that allow networks like CBS to own more television and radio stations. The MoveOn.org team claims the White House and Congressional Republicans have custom-tailored new Federal Communications Commission rules that will allow the networks to grow much bigger.
So, while you giggle as beer bottles face off on the gridiron in the annual "Bud Bowl," think about what you're not seeing: a well- researched and factually-supported ad detailing the faults of the White House, because CBS deems the truth about Bush's tax policies too controversial for his football fan constituency
Jessica Hemerly, a native of New Tripoli, is a freelance writer living in San Francisco.
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