href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2010/01/26/tim-tebow-super-bowl-ad/&service=bit.ly">We’re still almost two weeks away from the Super Bowl — and all of its wannabe viral commercials — but at least one yet-to-be-seen ad is already capturing the imaginations of the Web: a pro-life spot featuring college football star Tim Tebow.
The ad is being paid for by a group called
href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/">Focus on the Family, and will star Tebow and his mother, who went against a doctor’s advice and decided to keep Tim despite medical risks. Women’s groups want CBS to drop the ad, but so far, the network is standing behind it.
This isn’t the first time CBS has run into controversy regarding its Super Bowl ads. According to the AP, the network caught heat in 2004 when it rejected a Super Bowl ad buy from the “liberal-leaning United Church of Christ highlighting the UCC’s welcoming stance toward gays and others who might feel shunned by more conservative churches.”
Of course, that was before the days of
href="http://mashable.com/social-media/facebook">Facebook,
href="http://mashable.com/social-media/twitter">Twitter,
href="http://mashable.com/social-media/youtube">YouTube and millions of blogs, where the Tebow story is quickly gaining momentum on both sides of the issue. A
href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=254808327913&ref=search&sid=5700981.2880327247..1">Facebook Group calling for CBS not to air the ad — in part because it rejected the 2004 United Church of Christ commercial — has already grown to 5,000 users. Meanwhile, several groups (like
href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=255063775815&ref=search&sid=2401404.1903955543..1" target="_blank">this one) urging CBS to air the ad have hundreds of users spread across them.
You can also see the big spike of tweets about Tebow we’ve seen in the past 24 hours:
Now, CBS is in the difficult decision of figuring out what to do. Online buzz will only grow during the two week lead up to the Super Bowl, and for an event that tries to be as uncontroversial as possible (especially since
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVIII_halftime_show_controversy" target="_blank">nipplegate), having the pre-game focus be on the issue of abortion presents a challenge.
Meanwhile, if the ad does air, look for it to be absolutely huge on the Web, where online video sites already look to capitalize on the buzz created by Super Bowl commercials by
href="http://mashable.com/2008/02/01/hulu-super-bowl-ads/">launching features dedicated to just the ads.
What do you think CBS will do? What do you think they should do? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Reviews:
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href="http://mashable.com/tag/super-bowl/">Super Bowl,
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