Mixing a Super Bowl of manipulation

On 7 February, the New Orleans Saints will make their first ever appearance in American football's Super Bowl, traveling to Miami to face off against the Indianapolis Colts in a competition that's as much about the commercials as the game itself.

Also making an appearance for the first time will be an anti-abortion ad, paid for by the evangelical group Focus on the Family and featuring star college quarterback Tim Tebow, known for painting Bible quotations under his eyes during games. The ad, "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life", cost Focus on the Family as much as $2.8m, will reportedly tell the story of how Tebow's mother defied medical recommendations to have an abortion and instead gave birth to Tim, and may be viewed by as many as 100 million Americans.

Reminiscent of the anti-abortion ad created by the anti-choice Catholic group Fidelis, which was rejected for broadcast last year, "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" doesn't have the decidedly inconvenient problem of having been produced without the participation of its central figure.

(The Fidelis ad, called "Imagine Spot 1", ostensibly encouraged viewers to "imagine" the possibilities for a foetus shown in an ultrasound, but helpfully did the imagining for them, as text onscreen, with a backdrop of crescendoing violin music, read: "This child's future is a broken home … he will be abandoned by his father … his single mother will struggle to raise him … despite the hardships he will endure … this child … will become … the first African-American President." The video then cuts to a picture of President Barack Obama, accompanied by the text: "Life. Imagine the potential.")

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/25/superbowl-ad-abortion