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<div>FOX TV, which had the rights to the Super  Bowl this year, also had the right to approve or decline the ads which ran. I  can imagine the FOX ad department making a list and checking it twice to make  sure they had all the expected elements of Super Bowl commercials.</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Crude humor which results in a man  getting hit in the privates – Check. (Pepsi Max ad)</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Promotion of alcohol and excessive  drinking – Check. (Budweiser ads)</div>
<div></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Ads demeaning and sexually  objectifying women  - Check. (GoDaddy.com, Teleflora, etc.)</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Profanity-laced ad –  Check. (Brisk ice tea)</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Sick violence (i.e. catapulting a  baby against a window) – Check. (HomeAway.com)</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">-        Offending entire people groups with  stereotypical depictions (GroupOn.com, Pepsi Max)</div>
<div>And so on. You get the idea. However, there  was a commercial that FOX deemed so offensive it refused to air the ad. What was  the ad that FOX didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole? An innocuous ad that  refers to the scripture John 3:16 and directs viewers to a website  LookUp316.com.</div>
<div>The ad shows a group of fans watching a  football game who notice that one of the players is wearing John 3:16 written in  his eye-black. (A verse, by the way, that is as standard at American sporting  events as the giant foam finger.) In the ad, one of fans says, “Hey, I’ve seen  that before. What does it mean?” And another guy says, “I don’t know. Hey, I’ll  look it up.” Cut to the site address on the screen for  LookUp316.com.</div>
<div>That’s the so-called “controversial” ad FOX  refused to air. They’ll gladly take the $3 million per 30 second commercial to  air truly offensive ads, but won’t take the money from a group promoting a truly  inspirational message.</div>
<div>However, FOX gladly took the money from  Skechers shoes which ran an extremely salacious ad featuring a skimpily clad Kim  Kardashian seemingly about to have sex with her workout trainer on the floor of  a gym. The camera erotically pans her nearly nude body as she foregoes her  trainer for the shoes.</div>
<div>And FOX had no qualms about airing the lewd  ad for British-made Mini-Cooper cars. The catch-phrase of this ad was “Cram it  in the Boot.” With a play on words and vulgar imagery, this ad made blatant  reference to anal sex to the millions of viewers, both young and old, tuning  in.</div>
<div>These are the themes that FOX approves of for  family viewing. But air an ad with a Christian message and you just might offend  someone.</div>
<div>FOX TV has long-proved it is no friend of the  family with shows such as “Family Guy” and “American Dad” which offend moral  sensibilities on a weekly basis. So it comes as no surprise that FOX continued  that tradition of offending not only with the ads they chose – but also with one  ad they refused to air.</div>
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<div>American Decency Association<br />Bill Johnson,  President<br />P.O. Box 202<br />Fremont, MI 49412<br />ph: 231-924-4050 <a href="http://www.americandecency.org/" target="_blank"><br />www.americandecency.org</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson</a></div>
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