This Is the One Commercial You WON’T See This Super Bowl Sunday
When it comes to The Super Bowl, it’s not just the game that draws people to the broadcast: It’s the singing of the National Anthem, the halftime show and the commercials (have you seen this year’s leaked ads?), y’all! With Lady Gaga planning to get political this year, we weren’t too surprised to see several commercials following suit. In fact, one commercial brought so much heat, it’s not even being aired in its original format.
Lumber 84’s ad entitled “The Journey” features a mother and daughter walking across Mexico with nothing but the clothes on their backs and small backpacks. The trouble arose, however, when they were seen being confronted by a border wall. According to USA Today, the ad created so much tension at FOX (the network airing the games), that the network actually edited the commercial themselves to make it less divisive. (Apparently a commercial about a wall to keep foreigners out of the country could make people upset. Who knew?)
The story of a new beginning. See it 2.5.17. pic.twitter.com/LAYlRRyrvz
— 84 Lumber Company (@84LumberNews) February 1, 2017
While the original commercial apparently concluded with the outcome of the family’s journey, you’ll now have to wait until halftime before heading over to 84 Lumber‘s website to see the conclusion. If FOX deemed the commercial “too controversial for TV,” we can only imagine what the rest of the spot looks like!
The CEO of the company that produced the ad, Michael Brunner, said in a statement about the commercial, “Sometimes you need to take a stance if you want to make an impact with your target audience. But in the process, you may also create detractors.”
Check out the commercial’s first half below:
Hmmm. We’re definitely intrigued enough to tune in for the rest… how about you?
Do you think Super Bowl ads should stay out of politics or focus on them more often? Share it with us @BritandCo!
(h/t Refinery29, photos via 84 Lumber)
