CBS: T&A and Conservative Politics

[alp227]

Tommi Avicolli-Mecca, BeyondChron (an Internet alternative news source in San Francisco)

It was bad enough when CBS accepted an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad from a homophobic group, Focus on the Family, an outfit that would like nothing better than the eradication of all queers from the face of the planet, not to mention an end to any reproductive rights for women.

Now, the station has rejected a spot from a gay dating service, ManCrunch, that shows two male NFL (National Football League) fans suddenly kissing passionately while a friend looks on in surprise. The Super Bowl airs this Sunday, February 7. CBS Standards and Practices sent ManCrunch an official letter of rejection explaining that the station has “concluded that the creative is not within the Network’s Broadcast Standards for Super Bowl Sunday.”

Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said that “this network should come clean to the public about what’s going on because this seems to be a homophobic double standard.”

A double standard about sex.

Let’s be real: The Super Bowl is as much about sexy ads as it is about two teams of men in tight pants fighting over a ball. It’s not hard to find the “10 Sexiest Super Bowl Ads” online. They include Britney Spears promoting Pepsi in an outfit that was no doubt painted on her body, Jessica Simpson causing a teenage boy to faint when she delivers a pizza in an outfit straight out of Hooters, and a Victoria's Secret model in her nightgown twirling a football between her fingers with a come-hither-I’m-in-heat look.

In comparison, the ManCrunch ad looks like a Saturday Night Live skit. The men are not even scantily clad. It’s more humorous than anything else.

Read more: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7767

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. I don't think it's a double standard - they are just playing to the audience.

Seriously, who watches the superbowl? By a VAST majority, hetero men. Sure, some women watch it. Some gays watch it. But it is a good bet that proportionate to their population, women and gays do NOT watch it.

They get more bang for their advertising bucks catering to the neanderthals, and don't want to air anything that would move them out of their seats during commercial breaks and miss the advertising that their core audience WILL respond to.

That's all that it is about - getting people to stay in their seats and watch the ads. If there were no commercials, there would be no football on TV.