Super Bowl 2013's Commercial Controversies: Unsexy Sex Ads and Fake Jamaicans

Updated
super bowl commercials VW racist ad
super bowl commercials VW racist ad

Every year, America is treated to a dose of Super Bowl commercial controversy. Sometimes the advertising altercations are about the ads that air -- GoDaddy's stripteases, for instance, or Groupon's sarcastic take on social issues in 2011. Other times, they're about the ones that get rejected by the network for going too far.

Super Bowl 2013 is bringing us a little bit of both. Volkswagen, which stole the show a couple years ago with the Star Wars kid, found itself embroiled in controversy when it released this year's ad on Monday. The commercial, which depicts a white Midwestern man affecting a thick Jamaican accent after driving the latest Volkswagen Beetle, has attracted accusations of racism. One critic called it "blackface with voices."

But not everyone agrees that the spot is racist. CNN's Soledad O'Brien and "Today" show host Matt Lauer both defended the spot on their respective programs, and 74% of respondents to a Huffington Post reader poll said they found nothing wrong with the commercial. And no less an authority than Jamaica's minister of tourism and entertainment gave the ad his blessing, evidently delighted to see his country touted as a happy-go-lucky paradise.




Volkswagen insists the ad will run as planned, and unless the tide of public opinion turns decisively against it, we expect to see it on Sunday.

One thing we won't see on Sunday, though, is this ad for porn site PornHub. Don't worry, you can click that link -- it's perfectly safe for work. In fact, the site cleverly made the most innocent Super Bowl ad possible, depicting an elderly couple tenderly embracing on a park bench before the company's logo appears. But CBS apparently has a policy against airing commercials for porn sites, which means you won't see it air during the game.



And we'd bet good money that that's exactly what the company expected to happen. In both 2010 and 2011, AshleyMadison.com -- a dating site for people who want to have extramarital affairs -- had its ad rejected by NBC and Fox, respective, for the big game. And in 2011, Fox rejected a Super Bowl ad from conservative comedy site JesusHatesObama.com.

In both cases, the company in question got a big publicity bump from the ensuing controversy, without ever having to pony up millions for an ad slot. And we're guessing that's just what PornHub had in mind.

Finally, we should acknowledge one advertiser that's steering clear of controversy this year. Domain name registry GoDaddy, which has become infamous for unfunny ads depicting scantily-clad women, is finally ditching the sex in favor of a 30-second spot that's genuinely funny and makes a good case for using its product. Imagine that: A Super Bowl ad that's effective, and doesn't stir up a fuss.



CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article also included a Taco Bell ad that declared that "people kind of hate you" for bringing vegetables to a game day party and indicated that the ad was pulled due to complaints from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. While the ad was indeed pulled from rotation due to complaints, a Taco Bell spokesperson clarifies that the ad wasn't scheduled to run during the Super Bowl, instead running in regular rotation and during college football's Bowl Championship Series.

Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.

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