Budweiser's 'Malfunction' explainer ad won't air
Anheuser-Busch withholds its Super Bowl 'story' behind Janet Jackson goof.
By Michael McCarthy / USA TODAY
What's sure to be one of the most talked-about commercials created for Super Bowl XXXIX won't air game day.
Anheuser-Busch, the largest advertiser with 10 of the 30-second ad slots on Fox's Feb. 6 broadcast, produced a humorous spot that purports to show what really caused Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" in last year's Super Bowl halftime on CBS.
However, regulators are still on the warpath about broadcast indecency: Jackson's breast-baring sparked a half-million complaints to the Federal Communications Commission and a $550,000 fine against CBS-owned stations, which they are contesting.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) re-introduced a bill in the House of Representatives Wednesday that would boost the FCC penalty for indecency from $32,500 to $500,000 per violation. The legislation also would require a license revocation hearing after a broadcaster's third offense.
Meanwhile, A-B and other advertisers have been taking fire for allegedly tasteless humor in ads aired in that game.
The St. Louis brewer has decided not to put the spot -- titled "Wardrobe Malfunction" by ad agency DDB New York -- on its Super Bowl roster. Instead, that ad started appearing on Monday on the Budweiser.com Web site.
"Our beer drinkers tell us we shouldn't overreact to the media scrutiny, but we have to live in this world," says Bob Lachky, director of global brand advertising at A-B.
"We have to be cognizant that there's a line you shouldn't cross."
The commercial opens with a stagehand wandering around "Backstage Before Halftime 2004." When he can't open a bottle of Bud Light, he uses the bustier of Jackson's costume to crack open his brew. In the process, he damages the costume, then furtively tries to fix it with a piece of tape. As he sneaks out of the room, viewers see the damaged part that was supposed to cover Jackson's breast fall down -- paving the way for the greatest image disaster in Super Bowl history.
The camera then cuts to the stagehand watching Jackson's halftime performance with a stunned look on his face. "Whoa, that's something you don't see every day," says the TV announcer.
All the marketers paying an average of $2.4 million per 30-second ad are "skittish" this year about offending consumers, says Laura Ries of Ries & Ries branding consultancy in Atlanta. But if anyone could have gotten away with spoofing last year's debacle, it's A-B, she adds.
"They win the 'Super Bowl of advertising' every year. No other brand could get away with it."
:mj14: :drinky:
Anheuser-Busch withholds its Super Bowl 'story' behind Janet Jackson goof.
By Michael McCarthy / USA TODAY
What's sure to be one of the most talked-about commercials created for Super Bowl XXXIX won't air game day.
Anheuser-Busch, the largest advertiser with 10 of the 30-second ad slots on Fox's Feb. 6 broadcast, produced a humorous spot that purports to show what really caused Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" in last year's Super Bowl halftime on CBS.
However, regulators are still on the warpath about broadcast indecency: Jackson's breast-baring sparked a half-million complaints to the Federal Communications Commission and a $550,000 fine against CBS-owned stations, which they are contesting.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) re-introduced a bill in the House of Representatives Wednesday that would boost the FCC penalty for indecency from $32,500 to $500,000 per violation. The legislation also would require a license revocation hearing after a broadcaster's third offense.
Meanwhile, A-B and other advertisers have been taking fire for allegedly tasteless humor in ads aired in that game.
The St. Louis brewer has decided not to put the spot -- titled "Wardrobe Malfunction" by ad agency DDB New York -- on its Super Bowl roster. Instead, that ad started appearing on Monday on the Budweiser.com Web site.
"Our beer drinkers tell us we shouldn't overreact to the media scrutiny, but we have to live in this world," says Bob Lachky, director of global brand advertising at A-B.
"We have to be cognizant that there's a line you shouldn't cross."
The commercial opens with a stagehand wandering around "Backstage Before Halftime 2004." When he can't open a bottle of Bud Light, he uses the bustier of Jackson's costume to crack open his brew. In the process, he damages the costume, then furtively tries to fix it with a piece of tape. As he sneaks out of the room, viewers see the damaged part that was supposed to cover Jackson's breast fall down -- paving the way for the greatest image disaster in Super Bowl history.
The camera then cuts to the stagehand watching Jackson's halftime performance with a stunned look on his face. "Whoa, that's something you don't see every day," says the TV announcer.
All the marketers paying an average of $2.4 million per 30-second ad are "skittish" this year about offending consumers, says Laura Ries of Ries & Ries branding consultancy in Atlanta. But if anyone could have gotten away with spoofing last year's debacle, it's A-B, she adds.
"They win the 'Super Bowl of advertising' every year. No other brand could get away with it."
:mj14: :drinky:
