ManCrunch.com Spokesman on CBS: "It's a Blatant Case of Discrimination"
On Thursday it was reported that CBS was considering an ad from gay dating site ManCrunch.com for possible broadcast during the upcoming Super Bowl.
Now ManCrunch.com is charging that the network is discriminating against them in regards to their ad which shows two men watching the Super Bowl, accidentally touching hands and then kissing passionately. Spokesperson Dominic Friesen tells AfterElton.com the network is not treating them fairly.
Says Friesen, "There are two parts to the whole situation. After nearly two weeks, CBS broadcasting standards, which reviews Super Bowl ad submissions, has yet to approve or reject our Super Bowl ad. This is clearly a stall tactic. And in turn, they've been lying to us all along and telling us there is no ad space available for sale. And, as of three hours ago, our CBS sales rep told us the exact same thing."
This conflicts with reports by Fox News who says a representative for Pop Tarts told them that CBS had ad spaces still available. AfterElton.com contacted CBS and was told there were still possibly a few units available and that other advertisers were interested.
CBS declined to comment on Friesen's charges, nor would a CBS spokseperson explain how the ad approval process works. The network's only official response was that the ManCrunch.com ad was still being considered.
Friesen says ManCrunch.com isn't buying that. "It's an abnormal time frame and clearly they are hoping it would go away, but it's not. We really wanted to run this ad during the Super Bowl. We didn't think it would be problem. It's not inflammatory. It's kind of come out of left field that we're being discriminated against so heavily by CBS. We honestly did not anticipate this."
ManCrunch.com is a website most people are not familiar with and only launched this month. Super Bowl ads are notoriously expensive, but when asked if the start-up dating site actually has the the money for the ad, Friesen is emphatic that they do and are serious.
"The ballpark figure is about $3 million. We went through a pre-approval process [with CBS] to prove we can actually pay for the ad and then the review process for the ad itself."
More than one commenter has suggested the controversy is a public relations ploy to generate publicity for ManCrunch.com, but Friesen says that isn't the case.
"Our dating obviously site targets gay men.The reason we chose the Super Bowl is that it has an audience of 90 million. It's primarily a male driven audience. We did budget in our overall marketing campaign for a Super Bowl ad. It made good marketing sense to reach that many men at one time. It's the only advertising venue to reach that many men. For us, we're getting more bang for our buck."
Friesen added, "This whole chain of events is a blatant case of discrimination. It's anti-gay by CBS and I think it's very indicative of where we really are in America right now. It really represents a lot of change that needs to be done right here."
Friesen provided AfterElton.com with the contact information for the sales representative working with ManCrunch.com, but the sales rep never responded to a request for comment.
The network has been under scrutiny from many in the gay community ever since the network announced that they were accepting an anti-abortion ad from the anti-gay group Focus on the Family. After questions were raised how airing such an ad didn't violate the network's own policy against running advocacy ads, CBS announced they had revised their policy and would now accept advocacy ads.
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Even if it is a ploy, it is one that tells me a lot about CBS
delete
CBS and the ManCrunch Ad
I've never heard of mancruch
wait...what?
did CBS re-do the ad differently? i'm not sure where the discrimination part comes in. i'll re-read it again, because like usual, i have missed something. hahanevermind. i think i read way too fast. got it
Friesen is earning his paycheck!
I am not sure how much Dominic Friesen is paid by ManCrunch, but he is worth every penny. This was a brilliant PR move by the fledgling company, and Friesen is milking it for all its worth. This story has been picked up by every gay and gay-adjacent blog I read. I seriously think more gay men will have seen this ad online then they would seeing it on TV. Friesen is really spinning this story into PR gold.
Now if only the ad were better then I could really support their fight with CBS. However, I get the feeling that the battle itself is the best victory for ManCrunch. This way they can have their cake and keep their $3 million.
stupid ad
Awful Commercial
The creative execution of this ad is uninspired and has been done much better elsewhere.
AND sadly the African American guy's reaction in the commercial comes straight out of a narrow minded 1930's stupid movie trick where the stereotypical black man is shown bug eyed when something unusual is happens. Very backward in every way. UGH. I hope that commercial never airs anywhere.
If ManCrunch's PR department
is smart, they'd have E! News, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and any other entertainment show on the phone right now, telling the tale of how not only did their gay dating service ad get rejected, but a pro-life/anti-abortion ad was approved for the Super Bowl. That much free publicity alone is worth way more than the $3 million that they would've spent airing their poorly produced commercial.
If ManCrunch's PR department
is smart, they'd have E! News, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and any other entertainment show on the phone right now, telling the tale of how not only did their gay dating service ad get rejected, but a pro-life/anti-abortion ad was approved for the Super Bowl. That much free publicity alone is worth way more than the $3 million that they would've spent airing their poorly produced commercial.
ManMunch
I think they need a new name or their service. All anyone does watching the Stupid Bowk is eat.
Morning Joe showed the bit in its entirety today on MSNBC. Joe was reasonable about it, and stopped Willy(?) Geist from cracking a funny. Considering how bad the ad is in every sense, they have already got the exposure they wanted.
Aime-mois moins, mais aime-moi longtemps
CNN is Running the rejection story
CNN is running with it. They've got the rejection letter and everything.Really, you can't buy this kind of exposure.
Actually, every news outlet on the planet has it now. TheWrap, which is very much an insider publication on the industry. Not a huge readership, but a very select one.
EW, USAToday, WSJ, Time, and yes, even CBS News. Walter Cronkite would be proud.
Oddly, the CBS report mentions the anti-gay, anti-choice American Family Association isn't happy about the gay ad or the Tebow ad because they don't think parents should be put in the position of explaining "keeping the baby" to children when they just want to watch a football game.
I'd actually like to pat Spike TV on the back for how they reported it. Yes, it was snarky, but for a site/channel that seems so defined by machismo they hit the nail on the head.
Did CNN show the ad?
to show why CBS didn't show the ad?
Thank you, CBS
Right Message, Wrong Messenger.
Someone needed to take CBS to the woodshed for their obvious bias and double-standard, but did it have to be "Mancrunch.com" with this stupid, badly made ad? A few of our biggest gay rights groups could have had one less awards ceremony and used the money to produce a well-made PSA that would have put CBS in an indefensible position if they didn't air it.
Instead, everybody will just see this Mancrunch ad and say "yeah, that ad was just a lame gimmick and didn't deserve to be broadcast anyway." If HRC and/or GLAAD had produced an ad, CBS wouldn't be able to so easily sneak away from being nationally exposed as the biased bigots they are. When Mancrunch.com is a more forceful entity in exposing bias and putting homophobic corporations on the spot than HRC or GLAAD, you know we have a real crisis of leadership in the GLBT rights community.
It had to be ManCrunch
...or someone similar and not HRC or GLAAD. If it were HRC then CBS couldn't hide behind the now wilted fig leaf of "no advocacy ads". By rejecting the kissing dudes ad they can hide behind the same "standards and practices" which have kept kissing men off the airwaves for 70 years. Well except of course when the "kiss" leads immediately to self-loathing and threats of violence like the Snickers ad that aired during the 2007 Super Bowl. Which network was that on again? Oh right, CBS.
CBS's Unfocused Eye.
I'd agree, except that CBS is accepting that Focus on the Family anti-abortion ad. Focus on the Family is definitely an advocacy group, so CBS has already thrown that "no advocacy ads" fig leaf out the window. That's why I feel it was important that it was an advocacy group like HRC or GLAAD who challenged CBS, rather than a crass commercial enterprise like Mancrunch.
A group like HRC or GLAAD should have made a very tame ad, featuring some celebrity telling a heart-warming story with a message of tolerance, and pushed CBS into either airing the ad or exposing exactly the bias that's causing CBS to suddenly reject their long-held "no advocacy ad" policy to take an advocacy ad from Focus on the Family.
That's what I'm saying
Bad ad, even worse network, brilliant publicity
theres no way they have 3 million