The sharp eyes at Powerline caught AP writer Emily Fredrix really messing up on the Tebow ads for Focus on the Family that aired on the Super Bowl last night, which did not discuss abortion:
And a commercial by conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, perhaps the most anticipated ad of the night, hinted at a serious subject although it took a humorous tone too. Heisman winner Tim Tebow and his mother talk about her difficult pregnancy with him and how she was advised to end the pregnancy—implying an antiabortion message—but ended with Tebow tackling his mom and saying the family must be "tough."
John at Powerline wondered: "How can anyone misreport on a 30-second commercial? How many people saw it, 150 million? Is there any explanation for the AP's hallucination other than pro-abortion paranoia on the part of the reporter?"
It's additionally mysterious since Fredrix filed a whole story on the Tebow ad and its aftermath, which more accurately described the commercial.
The subtle and humorous ad made some wonder what all the fuss was about.
The commercial, which shows just Tebow and his mother, Pam, against a white backdrop, does not contain an overt antiabortion message. Instead it sends people to Focus on the Family's Web site, which tells more of the Tebows' story and offers a more straightforward message.
Fredrix offered two experts -- one thought the ad was so subtle it was confusing, and another thought it was very effective. But the feminists were still sour and angry. Tebow joke-tackling his mother was an endorsement of violence:
The Women's Media Center, which had objected to Focus on the Family advertising in the Super Bowl, said it was expecting a "benign" ad but not the humor. But the group's president, Jehmu Greene, said the tackle showed an undercurrent of violence against women.
"I think they're attempting to use humor as another tactic of hiding their message and fooling the American people," she said.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
This is so silly and ridiculous...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 10:25 ET by FuzzlenutterGet a Goddang life there Moomoo--er--Jehmu!
Get a life is right...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:38 ET by unkeeafThey will twist and contort to make it fit their agenda. What else is new?
---------------------------------
Another Idiotic Kennedy Prediction Falls Flat:
http://bit.ly/cdExwc
That's just idiotic
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 10:36 ET by Blonde"Violence" against women.
The only thing that would make this Jehmu person happy, was if Pam Tebow had had an abortion. Stupid witch.
I hope he fails, too.
We were joking about that
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:42 ET by motherbeltWe were joking about that last night, and BKeyser found something (Hot Air?) suggesting that that would be the next line of attack.
We get it.
These people don't want "life" messages out there. They don't even want anything that suggests, however benignly, that there is a pro-life message somewhere, just in case they want to read it.
The fact that this ad might lead someone, somewhere, to read Pam Tebow's story, is anathema to these people.
They just want pro-life people to be shut up, once and for all.
I'd bet this Fredrix woman didn't even see the ad.
If she did, she wouldn't have said Tim Tebow and his mother talk about her difficult
pregnancy with him and how she was advised to end the
pregnancy—implying an antiabortion message—but ended with Tebow
tackling his mom and saying the family must be "tough."
It didn't "end" with the tackle...and it was his mother who said the family had to be tough! Then she ended it by saying "you're not nearly as tough as I am."
That's some anti-abortion message, Emily. I don't know why that kind of hate talk isn't downright outlawed!
I Thought The Ad was Brilliant
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 10:39 ET by Bass_ManFOTF created quite a stir in the "pro-choice" movement and got them into a frenzy. It created so much media attention even before it aired.
However, the whole incident revealed:
Even ESPN thought the commercial was a mistake for Tebow's career in the NFL. (They said that was five days before the SuperBowl.)
Once the commercial finally aired, there was nothing about abortion to it. So, everybody got their shorts in a knot about something that wasn't there, but it created so much media attention that it generated so much interest 30 seconds of advertising couldn't otherwise do. It was absolutely brilliant.
Brilliant is the understatement
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 12:22 ET by SouthJersey1953I also thought it was brilliant. Not only the ad, but the hype before the fact. I loved the fact that FOTF refused to "pre-release" the ad. Now I know why (and I know why CBS had no reason not to show it, despite the demands by the "tolerant" pro-choice crowd). They wanted all of the pre-Super Bowl discussion about abortion, all the while knowing that abortion wasn't even part of the ad. They definitely got their money's worth.
"I claimed the Government as a dependent on my taxes" - Tea Party sign in Chicago
Re Brilliant
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:27 ET by slickwillie2001Yep. Publicity from the ad before it showed, among the folks that see this as an issue, exceeded that of the ad itself. It exposed the pro-abortion crowd as the far-left radicals that they are. Well done.
Didn't see the ad, but if
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 10:50 ET by mattmDidn't see the ad, but if it's got "Amost Pertinent" in a tizzy, it must have been good.
Funny, I suppose next
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 10:58 ET by realpatriotthey are going to go after the snickers commercial, I mean didn't someone tackle Betty White in that ad. So violent!! Also Abe Vigoda go sacked, that promotes violence against the elderly.
Right?
I was just thinking that!
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:45 ET by CobraManI was just thinking that!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Tebow ad
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:10 ET by Bob BarclayThe reason the left is whining and making ridicules accusations is because they have made much ado about nothing.
They are siting in front of their televisions with egg on their faces. They accused Focus on the Family and CBS for showing an ad that was anti-abortion.
Now with the ads having run they did not find what they claimed. So they have to falsely trudge onward no matter how ridicules they look doing it. Also from now on if you see a mother playing football or anyother contact sport with their kids it can now be looked on as violence against woman and never mind the fact that woman are now playing football and other contact sports. This accusation seems to only hold if it is pro-life women.
Paging Doug Wild
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:25 ET by BlondeHow'd this ad work out for ya, Doug?
And where are all of the cases of gun violence, murder and mayhem you predicted after families became enraged from watching this advert?
Hmmmm?
I hope he fails, too.
Not to worry...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:29 ET by BKeyserthe White House will have this pulled. They have a history of having news articles that misrepresent the facts assassinated. This will certainly disappear down the memory-hole momentarily... Better screen-shot it before Rahm gets wind of this.
Today's word is
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 12:12 ET by gueinContinuing with a sports metaphor....today's word is "sandbagged", as in: "NOW, NARAL...you just got sandbagged!"
Personally...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 16:44 ET by Bass_ManI like "PWNED!".
Since this is a Tebow thread
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 16:50 ET by BlondeIt's actually Tebownd.
I hope he fails, too.
NICE ONE!
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:02 ET by Bass_Man<nt>
Mucho gracias, bassman
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:41 ET by BlondeAnd a belated welcome to the NB boards.
I hope he fails, too.
Feminist Hate
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:43 ET by DaMamaIt doesn't matter what the ad said or didn't say. Feminists and liberals will hate it regardless because abortion is like a religious rite to them. Killing unborn babies in the name of choice is almost like a rite of passage for liberal feminist women, and that is horrendous.
I liked the ads. They were humorous which was nice. I am baffled that the femi-nazis would find "violence" in this ad. Good grief. I smack my husband playfully on the rear end all the time, just as my grandfather used to do to my grandmother for their 60+ years of marriage. It was playful and a sign of affection. My kids have grown up with it, and they are not violent adults.
These liberals really need to get a life, and develop a sense of humor. It's like they can't laugh at anything. How sad.
betty white
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 14:46 ET by leeanthonyvai wonder if the feminazis complained about the snickers ad where they tackled the crap out of betty white.
The Tebow ads were most
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 15:46 ET by BuffNBoneThe Tebow ads were most effective. I liked their simplicity. The minimalist approach using almost exclusively black and white framed the issue in a very classy way. There really isn't any gray when it comes to the life debate. Either the unborn child lives or does not. Well done FoTF.
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"