As Madison Avenue makes frantic last-minute preparations for Sunday's Super Bowl ad fest, one thing is certain: Fallout from Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" still has marketers uncertain about appropriate ad content for the game.
They expect the government and an assortment of pressure groups to be watching closely for anything they think crosses the indecency line. Fearful of protests, some advertisers pulled their punches: Others have pulled ads.
Lincoln Mercury on Wednesday yanked a planned commercial showing a clergyman "lusting" after the new 2006 Lincoln Mark LT. A group representing victims of sexual abuse by priests protested that it trivialized sex crimes.
After consulting with Fox and the National Football League, Anheuser-Busch, the game's biggest advertiser, with 10 ad slots, decided not to run an ad spoofing the Jackson fiasco (A-B has posted it online, however, at Budweiser.com). "Two years ago we would have run it," says Bob Lachky, A-B's director of global brand advertising. "But it's a different time now. The problem is if you get off-center, somebody is ready to jump you. So why do that? It wouldn't be smart business."
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