In the recent Super Bowl, over 50 commercials aired. However, the ban of a PETA commercial created outrage and controversy.
PETA created a patriotic ad for the Super Bowl that was intended to send a message of kindness and inclusion, but the NFL quickly shot it down. The commercial showed animals from different species kneeling while humming the Star-Spangled Banner in the background, and was “inspired by former 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt when the national anthem was played at NFL games to protest police violence against black people,” PETA explained in an earlier statement.
The ad was meant to promote PETA’s campaign against speciesism, but the organization quickly started receiving backlash. Although they did compare racism to speciesism, which allows humans to disrespect and mistreat other species, it was only meant to show inclusion and hope for a kind world where all are included.
Senior Sara Hoskins disagrees, saying “To me, this ad was banned to avoid controversy within the NFL. It could have been perceived as the NFL mocking Kaepernick.”
This ad did not mention the scandal that occurred with Kaepernick, but merely mirrored some qualities of it. The people at PETA were only trying to spread the word about speciesism and said nothing about their beliefs on the Kaepernick scandal, only used it to try and spread kindness and get rid of speciesism. It was not fair for the NFL to ban this ad while letting over 50 other commercials air.
PETA had the right idea to make a patriotic ad, and the commercial was relatively harmless. There was no mention of Kaepernick or their opinion on him kneeling. The commercial only showed the different species as equal and incorporated the American flag and national anthem to show they hope for a future where speciesism is not a problem.
On PETA’s website, they created a page attacking the NFL for banning their commercial. On this page, it stated, “The NFL may be unconcerned with inequality, but we at PETA are activists who will continue to work to dismantle all forms oppression.”
PETA shared the ad on social media after it was banned, and received backlash from several people. “It would never be okay to co-opt this imagery comparing black people to bears and horses,” climate writer Mary Annaïse Heglar said. PETA was not intending to compare a certain race and animals- they were simply trying to inform people.
It was not right for the NFL to ban this ad from airing because of the adverse reactions it would have caused. People can take anything put on the internet the wrong way, therefore banning something just because of backlash is wrong.
