Famous Super Bowl Commercials: PETA’s “Veggie Love”
The Super Bowl commercial that wins in the category “top banned Super Bowl commercials” is without any doubt PETA’s Veggie Love – a 2009 production that makes the headlines again. It is that time of the year, when all commercials produced for America’s largest national celebration win, no matter how lame, obscure, or kinky. Fortunately, PETA’s Veggie Love is just kinky. And brilliant.
You cannot say that the PETA commercial below lacks any of the ingredients that make a memorable advertisement. A fair warning for our readers who get easily offended by explicit content, the clip below would make a prostitute blush, despite the fact that it is not really revealing. It is, however, explicit: imagination is the most significant and potent sex organ.
In 2009, when they rejected it, NBC stated clearly why the ad was unacceptable: it exceeded levels of sexuality acceptable according to the network’s standards. Among the unacceptable features, the NBC counted the following: woman licking pumpkin; touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli; pumpkin from behind between legs; rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin; screwing herself with broccoli; asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina; licking eggplant; and rubbing asparagus on breast. While for many these actions do stimulate the appetite, I doubt that they get hungry for veggies.
It’s not that PETA ever hoped that the ad would be accepted and broadcast on national television. It was enough to become a hit on the web, and a “rejected ad” always has more chances of going viral. Two years after its first release, the world still talks about it, as it just happened. PETA’s move was brilliant by all marketing standards.
“Veggie Love” isn’t the first PETA video banned from the airwaves. PETA has a long list of ads “too hot” for TV, including Casey Affleck’s “Go Vegetarian” public service announcement; Alicia Silverstone in PETA’s first-ever naked veggie testimonial; the Kentucky Fried Cruelty: The Movie; and many others.
This year’s “Veggie Love” by PETA pales by comparison. The video is viral, but it’s unprofessional, and cheap. It looks like amateur soft core porn at best.
