College football star Tim Tebow’s Super Bowl advertisement, funded by Focus on the Family, did not live up to its hype, according to The Celebrity Caf©. The anti-abortion commercial featuring Tebow and his mother was expected to very controversial, but was quite tame in actuality.
Blog Critics states that in the days leading up to the Super Bowl there was much discussion around the question of whether or not the ad should be allowed to be aired. Over the years, several ads have been banned from the big game because they were too "racy for the masses." Last year, PETA’s pro-vegetarian ad was banned for being too sexual, and this year an ad for the gay dating website mancrunch.com was also rejected.
Despite the building controversy, Tim Tebow’s ad was mild. According to The Celebrity Caf©, the ad was more of a lighthearted take on a mother-son relationship than it was an advocate against abortion, or a heartwarming story about a mother ignoring doctors’ advice and having her baby anyway. Tebow’s mother suffered a life-threatening infection while she was pregnant. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended she have an abortion. But Pam Tebow, despite the odds, made her own choice.
The actual ad briefly narrates Tebow’s story, and then shows Tim tackling his mother in a lighthearted way. The abortion issue is never explicitly mentioned or discussed in the commercial.
Jamelle Hill of ESPN wrote “I don’t care if you’re pro-choice or pro-life, conservative or liberal, God-fearing or atheist, you’ve got to admire Tebow for standing with conviction, even as he’s opening himself and his family up to criticism.”