Consider boycotting Super Bowl advertisers to show your support for the Second Amendment
Commercials — they’re big money in America and they’re super-dooper big money at the Super Bowl. For the upcoming Super Bowl, advertisers are paying $3.8 million dollars per 30 seconds of air time for commercials. You know what commercial you won’t see, though? One supporting the Second Amendment. Here’s the ad that the NFL refused to show:
Mulling over the NFL’s craven retreat from supporting a core constitutional right, my first thought was “Hey, we ought to boycott the Super Bowl.” Only a second’s reflection made me realize that there was no way Americans would refuse to watch the Super Bowl over something like this, even pro-gun Americans. It is, after all, the Super Bowl, and it will take a bigger insult than a banned commercial to make people abandon one of the year’s great pleasures.
When I heard yesterday about the price for advertising on the Super Bowl, however, it occurred to me that Americans can take a stand without sacrificing their viewing pleasure: Second Amendment supporters should let it be known that they will boycott any service or product advertised during the Super Bowl. After all, while you and the players focus on the game itself when you think of the Super Bowl, for the NFL honchos and the advertisers, it’s all about the money.
According to Forbes, the following companies have already signed on to those exorbitant ad rates: “Anheuser-Busch InBev; Butterfinger; Chevrolet; Doritos; GoDaddy.com; Hyundai; Intuit; Jaguar; Mars; Oikos; PepsiCo Beverages; and Wonderful Pistachios.” There will eventual be
None of those are essential products that people must have in order to survive. If you’re a Butterfinger or Mars fan, consider the fact that a boycott will help you with that diet you’ve been meaning to start. Same goes for the Doritos nibblers among us, the soft drink consumers (PepsiCo), or the beer drinkers. And honestly, as a luxury car, aren’t Jaguars just the slightest bit, well, old fogey-ish? If you’re looking for a luxury car, pick one that isn’t giving almost $13,000 per second to an organization that considers the Second Amendment controversial. I’m willing to bet that, subject to a few exceptions, every single advertised product will be something that you can do without.
I’m sure there are those among you who will say “It’s just a commercial” or ask “Why is one commercial such a big deal?” or something like that. In years past, I might have agreed. But this year is different. This is the year in which Organizing For America is telling Americans to have Sandy Hook anniversary gatherings in order to fire up anti-gun sentiment. This is the year that children across America were attacked by school authorities for chewing pizza into gun shapes or pointing their fingers at each other and saying “bang.” Moreover, this is the administration that has been open about its desire to ban guns in America and that has at least another year to pursue that goal.
In other words, this is a year when Americans cannot afford to sit back and say “whatever” when a major American institution cries craven on the Second Amendment. So please, think about making a fairly painless, but very principled stand against an institution that refuses to accept a very low-key commercial celebrating a constitutional right.
