Like many people, my family held a Superbowl party with friends (and my signature Chili dish) to watch both the game and the commercials. The group is about evenly divided between which is the greater draw, though with a relatively dull game the commercials took on a heightened level of scrutiny. The commercials were not a bumper crop this year but there were a few particularly funny spots. I liked the Doritos baby commercial, the Christopher Walkin commercial, the Willem Dafoe/Snickers commercial and the Prius commercial the most. They are posted below. However, NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading advocacy group on the issue of abortion, quickly sent out tweets denouncing various commercials in an apparent effort to show critics that the organization is truly incapable of humor or restraint at such moments.
The group first singled out the Hyundai commercial featuring comedian Kevin Hart, which I thought was pretty funny:
Here is NARAL’s response:
“Hey, @Hyundai – taking away your daughter’s autonomy and stalking her on a date isn’t funny. #NotBuyingIt #SB50”
NARAL then went after the Doritos commercial:
The problem? “Humanizing fetuses” even though this looked like a fully grown baby.
Then NARAL went after the very funny Snickers commercial below as “transphobic”:
So it appears other people watch the Superbowl for the commercials, though NARAL sits there with a cellphone waiting to tweet the first offense or insult that it can spot:
“NARAL @NARAL
.@SNICKERS, what was up w that commercial? Transphobic & implies women OK w being objectified as long as they have snacks #NotBuyingIt #SB50
6:58 PM – 7 Feb 2016”
They seemed to not let a funny commercial get by without finding something to denounce in it. It was the hilarious “Walken Closet” spot.
Nothing can be that funny without being terribly insulting. I would suggest denouncing the Kia Optima as advancing a beigist stereotype and being beigophobic.
Even the spot showing the throwing of a wedding bouquet prompted an angry NARAL tweet:
“Really, @Buick? Women fighting over a wedding bouquet? That was the best you could come up with? #NotBuyingIt #SB50”
What is fascinating is that the woman tosses away to the bouquet at the end of the commercial.
Just for the record, I also liked the Prius commercial below:
Some tweets seemed to be a parody of itself in seeking any basis to object. For example, the car commercial featuring an astronaut received this furious tweet:
“NARAL @NARAL
.@Audi – you couldn’t find a single female astronaut to feature in your ad? #NotBuyingIt #SB50
7:13 PM – 7 Feb 2016”
There is of course the ability to support pro-choice causes and still have a sense of humor and a modicum of social perspective. What is interesting is that, even if one accepts that NARAL is not where one looks for humor, these attacks would seem to undermine its credibility and connection with the vast majority of people. However, like PETA attacks, these criticisms are clearly meant to resonate with a narrow band of the population. It is possible to see these ads in a different light, but that is clearly not possible if you view everything through a self-fulfilling and hyper-sensitive lens. Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said “[t]he overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.” He of course never saw the comedic critiques of NARAL.
First of all, NARAL should find a new acronym, because they sound like a body hair removal product.
Their irrational antisocial behavior is why modern empowered women do not affiliate with them.
I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. My son cheered on the Broncos because their logo is a mustang, and my husband just enjoys the game regardless of who wins. (But hurray for Peyton Manning!)
I also thought the astronaut commercial was a poignant comment on aging, and the sadness one feels when the exciting adventures are all done. And Christopher Walken and William Dafoe were outstanding, and all good dads can relate to the First Date commercial. The people at NARAL clearly have too much time on their hands and no sense of humor. They turn people off by this behavior.
Damn; Missed the awwwwesome half-time show.
bettykath – you didn’t miss anything. I have seen high schools give better half-time shows.
Olly
Again, my comment was simply to give some perspective to those knee-jerk reactions which classify NARAL as lacking in humor or balance. Forget the organization at hand. Forget that NARAL is the source. This is not about NARAL, specifically. It’s about an organization–any organization–reacting to what it considers as an attack on its message, purpose or mission. That’s it. Don’t allow your personal animus regarding NARAL to cloud your viewpoint. It’s not about whether one supports or doesn’t support that organization. It’s about comprehending and understanding how any organization, especially one as proactive as NARAL, would not sit quietly by as ads, serving to derail its mission, are broadcast. You are confusing an explanation for the reaction with support for the source. The two are not, necessarily, the same.
Bam Bam,
More commercialspeak: “Everybody knows that.” NARAL wants the public messaging to be a one-way street and this ad clearly is not flowing with their messaging traffic. Too bad.
Okay, folks, let me first start off with this–nothing in any of these ads offended me, personally. Great. Glad to have that out of the way, so please, spare me your condemnation for what I am about to add to the discussion. I add this for a reason–to lend some rational explanation as to why an organization, like NARAL, may view some of the comical moments, contained in the Doritos ad, in particular, in a vastly different light than the one viewed by the majority of the viewers. I happen to love commercials, especially the most creative and bizarre ones, and I don’t tend, for the most part, to take them very seriously–carefully decoding these ads for subliminal messages being broadcast over the airwaves; however, I’m also not a card-carrying NARAL member, either. NARAL is an organization, with a purpose, and it is in a battle, for its life–sorry about the pun–regarding the issue of abortion, with critics of said organization specifically using the “humanity” of the fetus argument to wage war on continued funding of Planned Parenthood and the legality of abortion in this country. That’s a fact. It doesn’t matter what side of the debate you are on in this matter. It’s about understanding a reaction and not automatically ridiculing the source as lacking in humor or perspective. The Doritos commercial specifically shows a woman in the process of having an ultrasound performed. That’s the key–an ultrasound. While I’m no expert, women can and do begin having ultrasounds as early as three months into the pregnancy, so an ad, portraying a fetus in such a lively and responsive manner, so to speak, which was broadcast to millions, runs counterproductive to NARAL’s message of continuing the protection for legalized abortion, where the “humanity” of the fetus is often used to denounce NARAL and its supporters. This isn’t about justifying or condemning NARAL. It’s more about comprehending and understanding its reaction, or, as most of you would call it, its overreaction and lack of humor, when it tweets negative comments about these commercials which it views as a blow to its message and platform. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to get that, and you don’t need to be a NARAL supporter to comprehend the influence that the media has over the general public. The organization has an agenda, and anything that detracts from or runs contrary to that agenda is going to be met with a response.
Didn’t watch the game. Guess I didn’t miss much. Just more of the Colosseum to keep the masses entertained.
Apparently NARAL has a completely different idea on what constitutes a human being. In their worldview, ultrasounds are for guiding the medical instruments used to drag that ‘thing’ out of the womb as intact as possible. Oh the horror that they must have felt being forced to witness an ultrasound depicting what can only be described as an actual ‘human being’, alive and moving as if it had some form of consciousness. I’m not quite sure how their ‘many’ pro-choice supporters, that eventually “choose” to move past “thing’ and opt for ‘human being’, go through the pregnancy without an ultrasound depicting a potential ‘human’?
As with most matches designed around defense, the game was boring. As with life designed around defense, the commercials were boring as well.
Who really gives a crap!
The Dorritos spot completely lacked the charm and humor of esurance’s Buster Posey “sort of a doctor” ad. Last night’s commercial was not attractive in any sense.
Moreover, although we were eating Dorritos at the time, they will be the last Dorritos we purchase. Not because we are for or against abortion rights, but because we don’t want to give the appearance of making any political statements with our food choices.
Dorritos made their product into a political statement and I prefer not to give the impression that I am making one as well
How bizarre. NARAL should get a sense of humor
The Science Geek
http://www.thesciencegeek.org
If NARAL wanted to have a problem, have one with those kinda weird ads by the NFL referencing Super Bowl babies
Budweiser claims they did not pay Manning for the 2 plugs he gave their piss during postgame interviews.
What Nick wrote. I wonder if Bud would take a spark, so that we could finally rid ourselves of dependence on oil from the Middle East.
steve, Michael Oher looked like a gate yesterday. Cam was classless in defeat.
As for Cam Newton, when I saw him not go for that fumble near the end of the game, I thought he was wimping out, but I guess he’d taken more of a beating than anyone at that point, and they certainly wouldn’t have been in that game without him.
I didn’t see him do anything else though and I don’t know what you meant. Why “classless”?
Not that anyone else could have done a whole lot better, but I thought Carolina’s offensive tackles were by far the more humorous marketing tool of the evening. As they say in the trade, ya just can’t coach that.
I thought the Doritos commercial definitely had a message but it wasn’t anti woman!
As to the “stalking your daughter” commercial, again it says something but nothing to get upset about. An helicopter dad…literally in one scene….goes nuts.
Justice Holmes – the Dame Helen Mirren would have been better if she had been telling people not to snort coke, which she did for years.
Contrast NARAL w/ Christopher Walken and Anthony Hopkins. Two superb actors who don’t take themselves seriously, doing silly commercials. Humorless Sean Penn, who is not nearly as good an actor as Walken or Hopkins, is humorless and could not do a silly ad.
An observation, brought on by the look back done by the NFL as the fundamental focus of no. 50. (There is probably a better forum for this, but what the heck.)
I propose that time progressing from here on will reveal that the Super Bowl “Show” has jumped the shark.
The game was not that good, the half time show was not that good (even it spent time looking back) and the show overall did not meet its billing (which was over the top).
The event has grown as the result of two drivers: Betting and Advertising. With the general economy relatively flat, the impact of the advertising will begin to show, through metrics, that there is better bang for your buck. Also, the segment of society that is satiated by football is probably shrinking as the minds of thinking people move past it.
Adding in the reality of concussions and the fewer kids playing it, and the path is clear, if something new can show up (or be created for the purpose of filling the gap) football has reached its apex.
More kids are or have played soccer and if gambling and advertising shift over to that, then the US would join the rest of the “west” having that as the main game, and just might bring the “east” along (think of those gambling and advertising funds).
For those that see far down the road, Soccer and legal marijuana are the new investment path, replacing football and alcohol. Ha, ha, ha. LOL, etc. (Both are safer for you, but soccer players will begin to wear soft helmets like sparing partners, and that stuff that dusts up from artificial fields will have to go for ultimate safety.) Yes, put your money in kids soccer helmets – you heard it here first.
neighbordave – the WasteManagement Open (formerly the Phoenix Open) drew over 600,000 setting records for highest Friday 160000+, highest Saturday 200000+ and highest tournament total. Weather was gorgeous, people were polite. And the went into sudden death for the championship.
My wise old man taught me to avoid people or groups who lack a sense of humor.
I thought the William Dafoe commercial was the best of the bunch. NARAL are idiots with no sense of humor.