The NCAA has had an advertising campaign running this season illustrating that many of the student athletes go on to professional careers in other fields, including the military. One of their most high profile athletes, however, may be already preparing for a career in the ministry.
Tim Tebow, who led Florida to 2 BCS titles and won the Heisman Trophy in 2007, filmed an ad for the Christian group Focus on the Family that will air during the Super Bowl on 2/7. Supposedly, the ad has taken on an anti-abortion angle, which has activist groups like the National Organization for Women (NOW) up in arms. Usually, Focus on the Family is one of the groups filing protests over more controversial content (i.e. coarse language) on television, but now the shoe seems to be on the other foot.
Tebow, who spent at least one offseason in the mission field already, hasn't exactly impressed pro scouts in preparation for the NFL Draft in April, but I'd not be surprised to see him and his mother, Pam (who also appears in the ad), turning up on The 700 Club, among other places, in due course. If he ends up crashing in the NFL, chances are pretty good we'll see him as a motivational speaker or evangelist by the end of the decade. I haven't seen the ad yet, and probably won't until the Super Bowl, but I'd have to believe the controversy will be lost after the game.
I have no problem with Tebow advertising his opinions, except that in the past the major networks have been more reluctant to take money from groups with "controversial" positions. I seem to recall MoveOn.org getting turned down by the networks a while ago. One almost gets the feeling that by allowing the Tebow ad to air the network is trying to appease in advance the censorious sorts who'll be watching the spectacle for "wardrobe malfunctions" or other heresies.
ReplyDeleteThat whole deal with MoveOn.org was 2 years ago, I think. Different set of circumstances, though. CBS, though, may be opening up Pandora's Box if they don't screen every ad from every fly-by-night advocacy group that comes along. NOW and other women's groups might be asking for equal time as a compromise.
ReplyDelete