CBS Considers Gay Ad For Super Bowl

All the blowback over Focus On The Family's anti-abortion Super Bowl ad may be having an effect at CBS, who is said to be considering accepting an ad from a gay dating site. Or at least, they are pretending to consider it.

The 30-second spot shows two men excitedly watching the game, before their hands brush as they both reach into a bowl of chips. Suddenly, the two begin making out, much to the shock of a guy sitting close by. According to a rep for the dating site, which operates under the slogan “Where Many Many Many Men Come Out to Play,” the ad was submitted on Monday, January 18th. When the site followed up on the status of the ad on Friday, January 22nd, they were told by CBS that “the spot hadn’t been officially approved yet" by network standards, and that "all the Super Bowl spots were sold out.” “ManCrunch requested the spot get reviewed anyway just in case another advertiser drops out and a spot becomes available, as often happens, and CBS agreed,” added the site’s rep.

ManCrunch officials said they believe CBS has no intention of airing a commercial for their gay dating service, "but do not want to officially ‘reject’ the spot out of fear there may be a backlash from gay advocacy groups.” However, a representative from the network told Pop Tarts that advertising spots were still open, and was unsure where that comment originated. “The ad is still under review, the process takes a little while,” a rep from CBS said. “We still have a lot of ads we have yet to review.”

I'd never heard of Mancrunch before this.

UPDATE: Here's the clip. It's not particularly offensive, not particularly inventive. The production values don't really scream "We have $2.5M to spend on the Super Bowl" either.