The Banned and the Unbanned: A Tale of Two Ads

April 17th, 2009 by david lay

Television commercials work, that’s why they are still around - and why advertisers are still paying top dollar for 30 second slots of television time during popular programs, sporting events and news broadcasts. Even now, during the age of TiVo and the DVR, television commercials still manage to make an impact. If the medium was obsolete, there wouldn’t likely be so much uproar over “offensive” TV ads.

When I heard a news teaser yesterday about a new Burger King ad being pulled off the air for being “offensive” I knew exactly which one it was. I had seen it several times, and thought it was mildly funny, but I knew that it wouldn’t be long before some people would be up in arms about it.

Oh, I get it. SpongeBob SQUARE pants! And as a product of the MTV generation, I know that song well. But I figured that many parents would think it inappropriate, as the ad is for a Kid’s Meal.

But guess what? That’s not the ad in question at all - apparently no one has a problem with using booty shaking and an extremely sexual song to promote a product geared towards children.

Nope, the ad that has been banned by Burger King is this one, for BK’s Texican Whopper:

My first thought was that it is “offensive” to professional wrestlers, but apparently that’s not it. According to the Houston Chronicle, the ad is “offensive” in “half a dozen ways”, including the argument that the cape worn by the luchador looks too much like the Mexican national flag, and that the pool scene looked as if it were implying that the Mexican character was swimming across the Rio Grande.

I’m speechless. Maybe I’m insensitive, but I watched that ad five times, and never made either of those connections.

While neither of these BK ads really offends me, it’s the first one that I would have suspected of drawing the fire… But what the heck do I know?

Posted in Television, Yada Yada | 4 Comments