FCC in the spotlight again
the guardian headline tells the tale: Singers’ boob sparks outrage in US
but that’s what you get when you put MTV in charge of a ‘family’ event. as i said before, i have trouble enjoying the superbowl because of the hype, specifically the halftime show.
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was inundated with complaints about the incident and about some male singers grabbing their groin.
Timberlake blamed a “wardrobe malfunction”, but the FCC chairman, Michael Powell, branded it “a classless, crass and deplorable stunt”.
well put. but the FCC is still on my bad side about something else. [read]
UPDATE 1: wapo’s sally jenkins treats the issue well:
Maybe now we’ll finally grasp the fact that the league is just another mass entertainment company, the Viacom of sports.
For years NFL marketers have preyed on the sensibilities of the nation to sell their sponsors’ products. They have appropriated sex, patriotism, war and even the tragedy of Sept. 11 as commercial vehicles, and used them all to peddle more Coors and cars. You can always count on the NFL, during any legitimate national outpouring of sincerity, to seize on the topic of the day and bend it as a selling tool, along with breasty cheerleaders, Britney Spears, and faux-militarism, in search of higher ratings and ad revenues. A 30-second Super Bowl spot now costs $2.3 million. So for the league to be suddenly shocked and indignant at the behavior of a bunch of MTV entertainers it hired in partnership with CBS to boost its cool points and halftime ratings is utterly disingenuous, and craven. Exactly what did the league expect when it rented the MTV culture?
[read the whole thing] or for a more humorous take, there’s this: [Super Bowl: sex, lies, marketing]
UPDATE 2: for more thoughts, i respond to pam’s comment at this post: [flag desecration]
pam: I am just amazed that I hear all the hoop-la over Janet Jackson at the superbowl halftime because she showed a little skin, and Kid Rock cuts a hole in the American Flag and throws it over his head like a pancho and parties in front of 60,000 americans…noone seemed to care! I was most offended and wish he had been arrested right off the stage! I wonder how the men fighting for our country over in Iraq watching the game felt about that! That is what the country should be all out of sorts about!
me: pam, i agree with you in that people should be outraged over kid rock’s lack of flag etiquette. if i had watched the 6-hour long commercial people like to call the superbowl, i might, too, have been offended. [flag etiquette site]
as it stands, public nudity is illegal, as far as i can tell, whereas flag desecration is not. perhaps that’s one reason for the lack of outrage? i don’t condone either, but that’s my explanation.
the problem with these entertainer types is that they’re so out of touch with america. on sunday, justin, janet, and kid (do you think he goes by kid?) all showed us how out of touch they are with reality. then look at michael jackson…scary. look at the dixie chicks, when they made their now infamous GWB comments. all of these people have alienated their audiences, which often are made up of plain ‘ol american families, christians, NASCAR fans, patriotic, non-PC people, who just want to have a good time without having their values and beliefs threatened. [dixie chicks/john norris]
Not to mention the commercials weren’t even that good. There were a few that sparked laughter, but on the whole they left us wanting and disappointed.
I would like to hear a blog about how doug is getting along with is lassy in DC…
oh, and I mean details!
pardon, it should read, “with his lassy” but “with is lassy” works if you say it with a scottish accent…