Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad is kind of goofy
You disappoint me, Focus on the Family.
Your pre-Super Bowl media manipulation was so slick. I was anticipating a stirring piece of pro-life propaganda. Maybe my expectations were too high.
Granted, it's a story that unfolds over several thirty-second spots, and [T]his is only the second of two spots. (Correction: I assumed there must be more to this campaign, but apparently, that's it.)
Spoiler alert: Pam Tebow is talking in front of a white screen about how much she loves her son, at which point he cartoonishly tackles her for no apparent reason. She exclaims "Timmy, I'm trying to tell our story here!" At which point he jumps up, literally, a bunny hop, and hugs her.
Leni Riefenstahl would puke.
What are you doing watching the Superbowl?
Posted by: Alon Levy | February 07, 2010 at 09:30 PM
Who me? Watch the Super Bowl? Nah, I'm just watching twitter and email.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | February 07, 2010 at 09:32 PM
Personally, I think there should be a superbowl ad about how Tim Tebow should have been aborted.
Posted by: Thomas | February 08, 2010 at 12:40 PM
The Superbowl was a good game. The underdog Saints - even their QB was considered too small - played a great game and ended up victorious even though it was close all game.
The commercial was pretty lame. I rememeber thinking "this lady is kind of creepy" and "what the hell is she talking about" and then finally "oh this was Tebow commercial everyone was talking about." It was pretty tame.
Posted by: Peter K. | February 08, 2010 at 04:57 PM
Oh and the Saints victory was a major morale booster for New Orleans. Plus they have that sissy French 'fleur-de-lis" on the side of their helmets.
Posted by: Peter K. | February 08, 2010 at 04:59 PM
$2.7 million and that's what the did with it? Of course a soon to be millionaire telling us all about the joys of families when 30,000,000 have no health insurance. Good thing Focus on the Family laid of staff in 2009.
Posted by: Frank | February 09, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Real classy there Beyerstein, insinuating that Tebow and Focus on the family are cognates of the Nazis. But you have it wrong. You and your ilk share a lot more with likes of Riefenstahl than you seem to be aware of.
Posted by: Daniel | February 09, 2010 at 01:58 PM
Until Nazis was mentioned, I didn't bother looking up Riefanstahl. While she can critized for her propaganda films, she was a skilled filmmaker.
Should Lindsay have said, "Spielburg would puke" instead?
Posted by: trollbait | February 12, 2010 at 02:04 PM
this is just the foot in the door. now that footf has established it's "right" to advertise in the stoopid bowl and elsewhere, expect more aggressive messaging.
Posted by: elbrucce | February 13, 2010 at 03:40 PM
The Pro-Choice faction was baited by the Pro-Life movement, and Pro-Life got the desired rise out of them. Pro-Choice got to look silly and reactionary - creating a much ado about a mother-and-son nothing. Having done communications research in marketing and advertising, it is my opinion that this was the intent. I think elbrucce, above, is spot on to "...expect more aggressive messaging...[in the future.]
Pro-Choice shot its critical reaction wad for a while and wound up with some egg white on its face. They will be hesitant to say something, again, anytime soon. In the meantime, Pro-Life will generate manifestly innocuous advertising that will reduce the subtlety of its message with subsequent executions. Somebody in the Pro-Life camp must be saying, "Gotcha, Pro-Choice!"
Also, it's my personal opinion that comparisons to anything Nazi lessens one's own message.
Posted by: Norman Costa | February 14, 2010 at 03:16 PM