Banned Superbowl Spots: Fighting Censorship, with Free Publicity

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By Anthony Kaufman January 29, 2007

When the Colts battle the Bears at Superbowl XLI next weekend, millions of people will be watching the game on television, but they won't be seeing some of the ads. That's because the "banned Superbowl ad" has become an annual ritual as companies try to drum up free marketing by submitting controversial and outré commercials to the networks, which eventually, of course, find a home on the Internet.

Last year, the video site Heavy.com collected a total of 16 such spots that proved too sexy or provocative for primetime, many of which are now available on iFilm and YouTube, from Mickey Rooney baring his ass in a spot for Airborne, to frequent offender PETA's outrageous, subversive "Girls Gone Wild" spoof "Milk Gone Wild" (viewable on the left of this article), which shows nubile, young party-girls baring their… cow udders, to GoDaddy.com's latest sexy-girl vs. the censors commercial.

GoDaddy.com has built sexism and censorship into what has become an annual ad and activist campaign for the domain-name company. In 2005, the outfit unleashed a satirical look at censorship, where a young woman shows off her chest at the fittingly titled "Broadcast Censorship Hearings." (On iFilm, it's been viewed over 1 million times.)

GoDaddy's latest battle with broadcasters is currently unfolding. Even though "GoDaddy girl" Candice Michelle wasn't in their latest, a harmless ad with a moderately lewd punchline, it was still rejected by CBS, according to GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons.

On his blog, Parsons has been chronicling his ongoing clashes with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and corporate America. While releasing the rejected ads to the web and drumming up the hype are obvious attempts at viral marketing (judging from this preview, their third and final commercial seems intended to offend more than the first), Parsons also has a viable and important complaint.

As he writes, "Who’s to blame for all this? I don’t think it’s CBS. It was on their watch that the Janet Jackson-MTV-produced half-time fiasco that started this mess took place. I believe the FCC has them on a very short leash. In the end it’s the FCC, operating through direction by our government, which is attempting to please the smallest and most vocal minority. But in pleasing this tiny 'computer generated – form-letter sending group,' a key aspect of one of this country’s greatest entertainment events is quickly being erased and soon will be diminished forever. Personally, I think that’s a shame."