OK so, um yea. Like PETA was ever going to actually pay $3 million to run a commercial during the Super Bowl. Of course they weren’t. But that didn’t stop them from stunting their way to Super Bowl notoriety with a GoDaddy-style banned ad strategy. And on top of that, they twisted things around to make it look like NBC was being more racy than PETA.
PETA contends NBC’s response to their ad had “PETA bigwigs blushing like beets.” Um, right. More like they were fist bumping each other and laughing at how NBC just fell right into their trap.
In response to PETA’s ad, NBC VP of Standards Victoria Morgan wrote, “the PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards,” it portrays one actor “screwing herself with broccoli” and another with “asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into [her] vagina.”
Is everyone blushing now? Right. Didn’t think so. This is tiring.
Of course an ad like this would never be allowed to appear in the Super Bowl. PETA knew it. NBC could have just ignored the whole thing or just one lined it with, “this ad is not acceptable” without lengthy explanation.
Doesn’t NBC understand PETA played them? That a trap was clearly set and NBC walked straight into it?
The whole strategy, of course, is to contend NBC allows ads for unhealthy junk food from the lies of KFC but won’t allow ads encouraging, in PETA’s opinion, a healthier lifestyle. Well, PETA, how about an ad that just said that instead of an ad which depicts women having sex with vegetable?
