The Super Bowl is the ideal opportunity for American advertisers to promote their goods and services. Companies understand that millions of people will have their TVs turned to the game, eagerly anticipating as the league’s best players compete for the title. While most individuals watch the game, many others just observe the Super Bowl for its advertisements, which is why businesses are willing to spend millions of dollars on commercials that will catch America’s attention for a few seconds.
A veteran-owned clothing firm named Nine Line Apparel has launched a Super Bowl commercial. Since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the 2016 season as a method to bring attention to police brutality and racial inequality that is still prevalent in the United States, the company has been opposed to anthem protests. While the demonstrations have been ongoing for quite some time, many people are still furious about them and regard them as an affront to law enforcement and military veterans of America.
Nine Line Apparel, a sneaker clothing company, paid for an ad and asked CBS Sports to air it during the Super Bowl as a protest against the protestors. According to the Washington Examiner, the clothing company’s advertisement “features soldiers, first responders, and images of military graves decorated with American flags and gives credit to them for protecting the rights of those like Kaepernick to protest.”
A United States Marine veteran, Mark Geist, narrates the political advertisement, a Benghazi survivor.
“Don’t ask if your loyalty is crazy. Ask if it’s crazy enough,” the former Marines recites in the ad. “When they question you running toward danger for those who are unable or unwilling, when they laugh at the thought of you willingly sacrificing your life for someone you may never know, stay that way.”
Geist continues: “Some people think you’re crazy for being loyal, defending the Constitution, standing for the flag. Then I guess I’m crazy. And for those who kneel, they fail to understand that they can kneel, that they can protest, that they can despise what I stand for, even hate the truth that I speak, but they can only do that because I am crazy enough.”
Tyler Merritt, CEO of Nine Line Apparel, was surprised when CBS Sports rejected their ad. According to Merritt, CBS turned down his ad not because of its political slant but rather because they were concerned that he and Nine Line Apparel couldn’t afford the 45-second commercial.
He thinks it was a political gesture, while the slot would have cost millions of dollars, which Merritt’s firm may or may not have had.
“CBS’s purported reason for rejecting a Super Bowl commercial that extols patriotism is totally out of bounds. Let’s call this what it is: a blatant attempt to censor a message that their politically correct executives find offensive. We urge Americans who believe it’s important to show respect for our flag and national anthem to join us in calling out this offensive bias. It’s time to give a penalty flag to CBS,” Merritt said to Examiner.
