Tebow Ads Aftermath

I never did see either of the two short ads of Tim Tebow and his mother, sponsored by Focus on the Family and aired during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday. But the accounts I have read of them show the spots to be so vague that the controversial messages regarding how women with complications in the late stages of their pregnancies may just want to ignore their physicians' potentially life-saving advice were largely left out. So what exactly was the point of this multi-million dollar expenditure on the part of anti-abortion Focus on the Family? To show that Tim Tebow loves his mother and that his mother loves him? Gee, who would have guessed!

I can only speculate that CBS, the network that aired these ads, and which insisted on co-writing their scripts with Focus on the Family, must have succeeded in watering down their message to the point where viewers were scratching their heads wondering what it was all about. And this places me in a quandary of sorts.

On one hand, I thought that the original intended message of the ads was objectionable and potentially dangerous, especially if women were to heed its implications and begin to ignore their doctors. On the other hand, CBS should not have interfered with the message originally intended by the ads after they had already given the O.K. for airing, especially as it stood to make the amount of money it did from them. Also, if there is something objectionable about a stance on a particular issue, I would rather that stance be brought out into the open, not only for honest debate, but also to clearly expose any hidden agendas behind the message, along with those promoting them. As well as an opportunity given by the network for rebuttal by the message's dissenters.

In sum, I will say it again: I can object to a message I hear or see in the media while objecting to attempts by others to censor that message. CBS apparently tried and succeeded in softening the Tebow ads' message not because it cared about their unintended possible effects; no, this network simply did not want to be pressured to run other controversial ads put out by other parties that might have provoked negative responses from different viewers. Ads from organizations, for example, that may promote pro-choice or gay rights agendas. I say broadcast them all and keep honest, open debate alive.