On the heels of the controversy surrounding the presumably pro-life Tim Tebow ad, which Super Bowl broadcaster CBS approved, comes the complaint from a male dating Web site called Mancrunch.com.
Source: mancrunch.com
Excerpt of the ManCrunch Superbowl ad.
Site spokesperson Elissa Buchter told CNBC that site officials were told that CBS was sold out of all its spots, as late as yesterday, even though that was not the case. “We’ve been unable to get a response since then,” Buchter said. “I think they’re just going to stall as long as they can so it doesn’t appear as if they are rejecting the ad.”
Buchter says she thinks it’s the gay issue that the network doesn’t want to touch.
“If it were a heterosexual couple or even two women, it probably would have gotten approved,” she said.
Others aren’t so sure.
One television insider said that the actions of the actors in the spot would never have made air no matter what the sexes are of the people in the spot.
And sources say that it’s possible that Mancrunch.com won’t pass the necessary credit check – making all of this moot.
Buchter says that although the site has only been up and running for a couple months, it has no credit problems. "We have plenty of investors who have raised over $40 million," she said.
For its part, CBS spokesman Dana McClintock would only say that the ad is currently "under review."
The company, which says it has spent $100,000 on the spot, is already running the ad on its Web site and the commercial on YouTube has surpassed 15,000 hits.
What do you think about this and the other 'controversial ads' that will be airingor have been rejected by CBS?
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Update: Mancrunch.com officials say they have just received a formal rejection of the ad from CBS.
2nd Update: CBS said in its rejection that the creative "is not within the network's broadcast standards for Super Bowl Sunday." The rejection also said the sales department "has had difficulty verifying your organization's credit status." Mancrunch.com said they offered to pay a cash advance.
3rd Update: "We are very disappointed that in 2010 such discrimination is happening especially given the fact that Focus on the Family is allowed to promote their way of life during the Super Bowl," said Mancrunch.com spokesperson Dominic Friesen. "We're calling on every same sex advocacy group to petition CBS and let them know this discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated."
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Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com
