Even though, the day after it aired on the Super Bowl broadcast, the consensus on the Focus on the Family advertisement featuring former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow was that it wasn't as bad as the left had feared, at least one person that isn't going to let it go.
On MSNBC's Feb. 8 “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough made the point that the TV spot played during the Feb. 7 game was inoffensive and painted the opponents of it as being upset about nothing.
“One other thing too, talking about the soft touch – Focus on the Family's ad with Tim Tebow was soft, it was subtle and it made all the people who criticized it over the past week look like shrill idiots,” Scarborough said. “It was a mom talking about a son she loved – her take with soft music.”
However, Donny Deutsch – the former host of CNBC's “The Big Idea” and a multimillionaire former advertising executive – still contended that the television spot was potentially a problem, not because of what was in the ad itself. Instead, as the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan pointed out – it encouraged people to go to a Web site that may have controversial points of view. Deutcsh likened the Tebow ad to the rejected gay dating Web site TV spot [1].
“You're right, it was completely non-offensive,” Deutsch said. “Well, OK, let's see what that Web site says and then we'll know whether it was straying over the line for what should or shouldn't be on the Super [Bowl]. My problem with that ad, to go back to Peggy's point – the game is what happens on that Web site, to me the same reason you got into the issue with the guys kissing in whatever the dating service was. We get into a slippery slope about what's the safe haven, the Super Bowl, what belongs there.”
And based on the logic that someone, including children (never mind the various beer advertisements broadcasted during the Super Bowl), might visit the Focus on the Family Web site [2] and see something potentially on the abortion, Deutsch concluded the Super Bowl is not the place for the Tebow ad.
“But if I'm a kid and I'm watching that, maybe I'm not ready for my kids to start taking on the issue,” Deutsch said. “Forget where I stand pro-choice, pro-life – it's not about that.”
Scarborough had advice for Deutsch – to take the liberal mantra of open-mindedness and apply to the Tebow position on the issue as well.
“You know actually Donny, let me just say, let me just say I live on the Upper West Side,” Scarborough said. “I'm progressive. I'm open-minded and I hope you will follow my lead. We need to support diversity. We need to support open-mindedness and let people bring forth their ideas – support life, support family.”