Abortion-Rights Advocates, Marketing Experts React to Focus on the Family Super Bowl Ad

February 9, 2010 - Focus on the Family's Super Bowl commercial featuring former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, was "a soft sell," despite the controversy surrounding the advertisement before it was broadcast, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Fredrix, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/7). The ad sparked a "furious debate" in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. Abortion-rights advocates criticized CBS for accepting the ad, which was the first political ad accepted for a Super Bowl broadcast.

The ad, which was unseen until Sunday's broadcast, aimed for "a lighthearted take on a mother-son relationship," the Los Angeles Times reports. In the ad, Pam Tebow calls Tim her "miracle baby," but the word "abortion" is never mentioned. She says, "He almost didn't make it into this world. ... [Y]ou know, with all our family's been through, we have to be tough." As Pam Tebow is talking, she appears to be tackled by Tim, but then stands back up and tells him that he is "not nearly as tough as I am." The ad directs viewers to the Focus on the Family Web site (Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 2/8).

Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, said that the use of humor could make the ad seem more accessible to viewers but that the ad's hidden message could be confusing to those unfamiliar with the controversy. "I think they took a very interesting strategy," Calkins said, adding, "It's clearly an effort to steer away from controversy. I suspect the people they were going after understood the message, but ... for most people, I don't think the ad really did a lot for them." Villanova School of Business marketing professor Charles Taylor said, "To the extent that there are people that they can influence, this probably does a good job of driving them to the Web site and getting them to check it out."

Some women's and abortion-rights advocates objected to Tim Tebow's tackling of his mother, the AP/Chronicle reports. Women's Media Center President Jehmu Greene said there was an undercurrent of violence against women, adding, "I think they're attempting to use humor as another tactic of hiding their message and fooling the American people" (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/7).

However, former Catholics for Choice President Frances Kissling said, "It's absurd to claim that this is an endorsement of violence against women," adding that the Tebows "came across as affectionate, loving, funny and happy." Kissling also said that Focus on the Family was fortunate that abortion-rights groups protested the ad before it aired. "If there had not been all of that publicity over the last two weeks, this ad could have passed almost unnoticed," Kissling said, adding, "Who would have known what they're talking about? It's so subtle" (Los Angeles Times, 2/8).