How Focus on the Family played everyone.

It seemed that when people were not debating who had the better team in the Super Bowl, they were discussing the Focus on the Family ad starring Tim Tebow and his mother. Questioning why CBS allowed an advocacy ad to be aired during the biggest sporting event of the year was second only to the questioning of the content the ad might contain. At no point has a single ad caused such a stir, except for maybe when Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video aired in 1989 as part of a Pepsi-Cola advertising campaign.

Much of the debate about the Tebow ad was on how CBS could allow a pro-life ad to be aired during the game. In the past, advocacy ads could not be aired during the Super Bowl, but CBS changed that policy prior to the purchase of ad time by Focus on the Family. The ad was never leaked before being aired, causing pundits, talking heads, and otherwise ignorant individuals on both sides of the debate to speculate on the message. Those against the ad automatically labeled it as a 30-second anti-choice sermon. Those for the ad praised it for highlighting the decision of women to choose life. However, both camps were cleverly played.

The approximate $2.6 Million paid for a relatively inexpensive ad to film was a bargain for Focus on the Family. The issue of abortion dominated the talk shows and news media outlets for over a week. In fact, the debate continues, as this article and others around the net can attest to. Here is an example of the point/counterpoint debate raging online.

The Pondering Penguin states:

CBS allowed the showing of a message ad, not allowed before in Super Bowl time. The message? A pro-life testamony given by the mother of widely known college quarterback, Tim Tebow. The silliness of the brouhaha was evident, once the audience actually saw the commercials. Not only were they so benign that if you were not paying attention you may not have realized what the message was, now they are complaining that one of the ads promotes violence against women. Why? Because in one of the ads – they were run in a bit of a story line – Tebow appears to tackle his mother and then she bounces right back up. Obviously done in a campy kind of humor, the loud in the feminist movement have been reduced to whining over a non-act. There was nothing to their concern over a pro-life message ad, so they had to do something to attempt to save face.

Kitsch-Slapped responded with:

I hate to interrupt Townsend, but as this is writing, not speaking, and it’s easier to read if I respond to points as they occur, I will interject. Spelling errors aside (it’s “testimony,” not “testamony”), it’s not wise to label something as a “brouhaha” or “benign” when your evidence is that the message isn’t discernible to those who are not paying attention; “not realized” is the definition of not paying attention, and inattentiveness is quite often a danger to one’s health. The only “silliness” here is that her last statement completely refutes the former statement.

The Pondering Penguin is right on one point – those who were arguing about something they knew nothing about have a lot of saving face to do. For those of you who want to read the anti-choice (or was it pro-life) message of the commercial, here it is:

Pam Tebow: I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn’t make it into this world. I remember so many times when I almost lost him. It was so hard. Well he’s all grown up now, and I still worry about his health. Everybody treats him like he’s different, but to me, he’s just my baby. He’s my Timmy, and I love him.

Tim Tebow: Thanks mom. Love you too.

You tell me … is this pro-choice or pro-life? I’m confused. Was it actually “advocating” anything.