Tancredo criticizes NFL for omitting Border Patrol ad

[Doondoo]

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) scolded National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell in a letter Thursday for refusing to run a Border Patrol recruitment advertisement during the Super Bowl. Tancredo, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said not including the ad in the program "makes it appear as if the NFL opposes the Border Patrol." The lawmaker is a major supporter of increased border security and outspoken opponent of any amnesty granted to anyone who has entered the country illegally.

"I think it is a mistake to assert that the basic existence and function of the Border Patrol is so controversial as to merit an outright rejection of its proposed advertisement," he said.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the objective of the Super Bowl programming is to provide viewers with a lighthearted and fun keepsake.

"The reason was the language didn't fit in with the lighthearted tone of the program," he stated.

McCarthy added that the Border Patrol ad was reviewed like every other ad. Because the ad included language such as, "It'll be your responsibility to prevent the entry of terrorists and their weapons into the United States," the NFL sent the ad back to the Border Patrol and asked them to change its language. McCarthy said the Border Patrol never resubmitted the ad.


http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/021607/nfl.html

[Hobarticus]

1. Oh fer fuck's sakes...

Sorry if no one else buys into your "terrorists are at our doorstep" bullshit, Border Patrol, or wants to force it down anyone else's throat during the goddamned Super Bowl.

And Tancredo? Man, just go play in traffic already. You've gone past amusing to obnoxious.

[primavera]

2. Strange, their old ads used to be much more upbeat

The Border Patrol used to run ads which featured prominently the slogan "Join the Border Patrol and Get to Carry a Gun!" I'm not joking, that's quite literally what they said.

[Rage for Order]

3. The Superbowl is so over-produced...

The NFL doesn't want there to be even a hint of anything that may offend anyone in the slightest manner, as they are trying to appeal to the broadest possible audience. I suspect in a few more years we won't see ads for anything except air and water, because there can't be a single person who doesn't need those two things.

[ohio2007]

5. "Tastes Great"-vs-"Less Filling"

If the ad would have been run,
the debate would have been shifted 180 degrees.
jmo

[benEzra]

4. You mean this Tancredo? :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=215384