An advertisement created by University of Denver graduate and professional ad executive Charlie Fisher was not aired on Sunday during the Super Bowl.
The ad, called “Child’s Pay,” consists of images of children working jobs, such as a supermarket checker and hotel cleaning staff, with instrumental music overlayed. At the end of the ad, the screen fades to black, and the words “Guess who’s going to be paying off President Bush’s $1trillion debt?” appear.
The ad was one of many sponsored by a website called MoveOn.org, specifically by the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. The site’s goal is to get “ordinary people” involved in politics. The contest, called “Bush in 30 Seconds,” called for American citizens to make a commercial which showed their view of the Bush White House. MoveOn.org said that “it’s crucial that voters understand what President Bush’s policies really mean for our country.”
The best commercial would be chosen by a vote from Web site visitors and a panel of celebrity judges including actor Jack Black, political strategist James Carville, musician Moby and filmmaker Michael Moore.
Fisher’s ad was chosen as the “People’s Choice” and “Overall Winner” on the site www.bushin30seconds.org. The plan was to air the “People’s Choice” ad on CBS during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2. However, CBS refused to air the ad, along with another ad from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, because they deemed the ads too controversial.
MoveOn.org has asked people to sign a petition encouraging CBS to air commercials that deviated from the norm, such as their commercial and the ad by PETA. They have been supported by Democratic Senators Richard Durbin of Ill. and Ron Wyden of Ore.
CBS did not make any comments on its website about the controversy, despite the fact that the story had been picked up by some other news organizations. MoveOn. org placed an ad in the New York Times on Jan. 28, calling CBS “unsportsmanlike” and saying that CBS “fumble[d] the Super Bowl.”
It should be pointed out, however, that MoveOn.org is a left-slanted organization. Along with the anti-Bush advertisements, the Web site contains transcripts of former Vice President Al Gore’s speeches about the Bush administration’s contributions to global warming and news stories about Vice President Dick Cheney’s involvement with the Halliburton bribery scandal. There are no pro-Bush ads on the Web site.
The site that contains the commercials, www.bushin30seconds.org, contains a section called “All About George Bush.” The page contains links to news stories and reports filed by groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council. There is also a page explaining political ads, with links to pages such as theWeb site of the Campaign Media Analysis Group.
To view more of the winning commercials in the contest, visit www.Move On.org or www.bushin30seconds.org.
