NBC trashes pro-life ad featuring Obama

NBC has rejected a pro-life ad that celebrates President Barack Obama's mother's decision not to abort the first black American president for its Super Bowl lineup – even though the video has skyrocketed in popularity with almost 750,000 hits on YouTube.

The commercial, sponsored by the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis and its CatholicVote website, begins with an ultrasound image of a baby moving in his mother's womb.

"This child's future is a broken home," it says.

"He will be abandoned by his father."

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"His single mother will struggle to raise him."

"Despite the hardships, he will endure," the ad states. "This child will become the first African American president."

It features a photo of President Obama and concludes, "Life. Imagine the potential."

The organization website states that it launched its "Life: Imagine the Potential" campaign "to reach Americans who are either indifferent, or who have not yet thought about the great potential of every human life."

President Obama's agenda regarding "reproductive choice" is posted on the White House website. It states, Obama "has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Adminstration."

However, an NBC representative said the network is not interested in the commercial.

After days of discussion, the representative told Fidelis that NBC and the NFL will not run commercials involving "political advocacy or issues," Fidelis said in a statement today.

The video has become increasingly popular since it first ran on Black Entertainment Television in Chicago on Inauguration Day.

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Fidelis President Brian Burch told the Washington Times that NBC was working with the company to purchase a commercial package in the nation's top 10 markets and four additional cities at the cost of $1.5 million to $1.8 million.

"We put out the call to our members and large pro-life benefactors who told us they would put up significant dollars to make this happen," Burch said. "I was told the ad was approved and then there were a number of attorneys working on it."

But he said NBC later reversed its decision.

"Then I was told they didn't want to run political or advocacy ads," Burch told the Times.

He claims that while NBC told his organization it would not allow advocacy ads, the network told PETA something entirely different when it rejected the group's sexually explicit commercial showing women having intimate moments with vegetables.

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"There's no doubt that PETA is an advocacy group," Burch said in his statement. "NBC rejected PETA's ad for another reason altogether."

An e-mail posted on PETA's website from Victoria Morgan, vice president of advertising standards for NBC Universal, said: "The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards."

Morgan provided "edits that need to be made" before the spot could be finalized to run during the Super Bowl.

"NBC claims it doesn't allow advocacy ads, but that's not true," Burch said. "They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness. Our ad is far less provocative, and hardly controversial by comparison."

He said, unlike the salacious PETA commercial, the pro-life ad is clean and has a positive message.

"There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement," Burch said. "We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC's parent company GE has done for years. We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of every human life."

Concerned individuals may send comments about NBC's decision to Victoria Morgan, vice president of advertising standards at NBC Universal, or call (212) 664-4267.