It almost makes me wish I could boycott the Super Bowl

Brian Leiter directs attention to this story.

U.S. football fans will not see ads featuring scantily clad vegetarians or a political attack on President Bush (news - web sites) during February's Super Bowl after CBS said on Thursday that advocacy advertisements were out of bounds on professional football's biggest day. ... Liberal group Moveon.org, known for its Internet funding power, told members this week that it hoped to have the first political Super Bowl ad. But its hopes were dashed when CBS said the spot, which asks "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?" was an issue piece and could not run. ... In a letter, CBS told PETA that it would not run advertisements on "controversial issues of public importance." PETA spokeswoman Lange said that CBS's broadcast of anti-smoking advertisements and even hamburger chain spots were controversial, advocacy pieces, as well. "In essence, CBS is saying we will air an advocacy ad if we agree with the viewpoint," she said. ... The PETA ad shows two scantily clad women snuggling up to a meat-eating pizza delivery man. "Meat can cause impotence," the screen reads after the rendezvous fails.

Two things to note: (1) CBS's policy is dumb. (2) That sounds like a great commercial. I hope PETA will air it another time/place.