. . . The 30-second Super Bowl spot featuring the Heisman Trophy winner and his mother had about as much as controversy as an episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
In the days leading up to Super Bowl XLIV, women's rights groups got all up in arms over a commercial sponsored by the conservative organization Focus on the Family. Feminist groups, including the National Organization of Women, urged CBS not to run the ad. These women's groups said the Tim Tebow ad was divisive, offensive and demeaning [Crary, David (2010-1-25). CBS urged to scrap Super Bowl ad with Tebow, mom. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved on 2010-1-26.].
Here's the "controversial" TV spot that angered women across the nation:
Now I ask you, what is divisive, offensive and demeaning about that ad. The commercial is actually very moderate, and it is a good piece of marketing for an organization that has been criticized in the past for holding positions out of the mainstream.
Ironically, while the Tim Tebow spot has softened the image of Focus on the Family, the controversy surrounding the ad has left feminist groups looking like extremists who want to suppress the speech of those who don't agree with them.
A round of applause must go out to abortion-rights groups because, in the time it takes me to heat up some Tostitos cheese dip in the microwave, they managed to be out-marketed, out-thought and marginalized by Focus on the Family.