You Can't Handle the Truth! Or, For That Matter, A Defecating Dog
Check out this entertaining but rejected Super Bowl commercial , for an outfit called QuietAgent.com . Then read the amusing rejection letter (note: pdf file), from Kathryn Tunis of ABC.
The network objected to, among other things, a scene of "a dog squatting to go to the bathroom" -- standing up and lifting one leg would have been okay -- as well as the image of a "husky elderly man in a thong." If this older gentleman were thinner, perhaps we'd be seeing him on our televisions this Sunday!
The network's main problem with the commercial, however, is its use of the image of President Bush. As ABC notes, "[u]nless authorized in writing by the Office of the White House Counsel, the use of the name or likeness of the President, as well as the Presidential Seal, is generally not acceptable for advertising purposes."
The folks at QuietAgent.com, or their advertising agency, should have known better. This is a lesson that The Onion learned months ago -- the hard way !
(Yes, we know, the controversy is probably somewhat manufactured -- a bit of a publicity stunt. The advertising "agency" in question, Boyce Mangin , is a shop of self-described "media activists." But the commercial is still amusing to watch, even if the "controversy" may be ersatz.)
The Super Bowl Commercial You're Not Allowed To See [QuietAgent.com]
ABC Rejection Letter [ABC, Inc.] [PDF file]
Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke. [NYT]
QuietAgent's "Banned" Superbowl Ad [chausse.org]