By Ali Ikram
Close to 100 million viewers watch the Super Bowl, and for those who don't understand or don't follow American football, the commercials shown in the breaks give a fascinating insight into US culture.
But at Super Bowl 44, sex does not sell. Of course, it used to, but that was before Janet Jackson's right breast cast a long shadow over all future broadcasts. Now advertisers live in fear of offending even just one of the 95 million-strong audience tuning in to watch the game live.
This climate has transformed the $100,000-per-second advertising space into a bland expanse where a fiddling beaver is more likely to get the girl. while the mostly-male football audience must watch themselves depicted without trousers wander a desolate wasteland.
Even a baby is more likely to have a girlfriend in a Super Bowl ad than a fully-grown, red-blooded male, which sounds a bit wrong if you think about it - but nobody is.
While some saw an obstacle to getting more risque commercials in the primest of prime time, others glory in getting banned, hoping those deemed too daring to air will turn into internet gold. One commercial from internet domain name company Go Daddy was declined because it was deemed offensive to the gay community, while another, from gay dating site Man Crunch, was presumably deemed too pro the gay community.
But by far the most controversial commercial was shown was one promoting the anti-abortion cause – not that it was very obvious, its message rendered incomprehensible by the desire not to polarise the audience.
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