Behind the ManCrunch ad
Who knew that a television commercial promoting a gay dating site would generate so much controversy in just a few days? That’s exactly what’s happened since a new website called ManCrunch.com tried, and failed, to land a spot to be aired during the Super Bowl (this Sunday on CBS.) With news that a pro-life ad had been accepted, there was hope that there might be room for another socially relevant commercial among the ads for beer, fast food and soft drinks. However, last Friday, CBS gave the answer of ’no’ to the site citing the following.
"CBS Standards and Practices has reviewed your proposed Super Bowl ad and concluded that the creative is not within the Network’s Broadcast Standards for Super Bowl Sunday. Moreover, our Sales Department has had difficulty verifying your organization’s credit status.
Should you wish to explore future buys on the CBS Television Network, the credit issue will have to be clarified. At that point, our Standards and Practices Department would be open to working with you on acceptable creative and appropriate daypart scheduling."
The letter, on CBS is signed by Kristen Bartlett, Editor/CBS Program Practices.
GLAAD’s response
Even GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) got pulled into the controversy when it released this statement last Friday. "CBS has a problem when they do something like this at the same time as they allow an anti-gay group like Focus on the Family to place ads during the Super Bowl," said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. "This network should come clean to the public about what’s going on because this seems to be a homophobic double standard." (NOTE: EDGE tried to get hold of GLAAD Director of Public Relations Richard Ferraro but emails and voicemails to both Ferraro’s office and cell phone yesterday were not returned before going to press.)
On Sunday, January 31, gay blogger Lyndon Evans on his Focus On The Rainbow wrote that his news reporter radar went up when he first read of the commercial and he suspected it was a hoax perpetuated by ManCrunch. In a colorfully named blog entry The Man Crunch CBS Hoax or How A Former Stripper Bamboozled The World’s Media To Promote A Website Evans claims his suspicions were confirmed by a comment he found on responses to a January 29 blog entry on Joe My God.
The comment written by porn blogger Jasun D contents that ""Mancrunch isn’t a LGBT-owned business and it isn’t a "gay dating site" at all.. it’s just the "gay niche" site made by a clueless straight company for publicity.... This company is just using the gay community’s political strength for some cash. They made a "gay" commercial they knew would be rejected so the gay community would get angry and generate a lot of free press for them."
To find out more about where things stand just five days before the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints meet for the Super Bowl, EDGE’s Jim Halterman talked with Dominic Friesen, co-creator and spokesperson for ManCrunch.com just before he appeared on last night’s Larry King Live.
Read the interview with Dominic Friesen on the following page. Watch the ManCrunch commercial below.
