Now that we know it will be the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, all that is left is to enjoy the game, right? Unfortunately not, as a full two weeks out from Super Bowl Sunday we already are getting clear signals that the enlightened plan is to use the game to educate us political Neanderthals. Once you hear what the enlightened have in store for us, you’ll probably prefer staying a Neanderthal.
First up is 84 Lumber, whose commercial mocking walls as barriers was so off the mark Fox Sports rejected it, telling them they needed to rework it. Stop and think about how bad the original commercial must have been that a network voluntarily turned down millions of dollars, choosing instead not to show the commercial unless it was revised. Breitbart reports that the commercial reportedly showed a wall that blocked people from getting work in the United States with immigrants unable to cross the border because of a wall. Get it America? If you voted for Trump you’re heartless and a racist.
84 Lumber sent out Michael Brunner from the agency who created the ad to explain it to us Neanderthals, “84 Lumber challenged us to create a thought-provoking, 90-second spot that would tell the world who 84 Lumber is and what they stand for — a company looking for people with grit, determination and heart, no matter who they are, where they come from or what they look like.”
Is that so? Does 84 Lumber really hire people no matter who they are or where they come from? My assumption is that 84 Lumber, when hiring people, does things like most employers do such as interviewing people before hiring them, and taking the time to see if the skills potential employees have match the skills for the jobs they have open. One would also assume that 84 Lumber, before bringing someone on board, especially on the executive level, will do a background and drug test first. All this is fine of course, but why can’t the American citizenry insist on the same due process for potential immigrants coming to this country? Why is it wrong to believe that just because someone wants to come to America doesn’t mean we have to take them? Why should the criteria for getting citizenship in this country be far less than getting an entry level job at a lumber company?
As for 84 Lumber and others wanting immigrants, “no matter who they are, where they come from,” they may want to ask the residents of Germany and France how that plan worked out for them.
On a different note, last week there were rumors that talented singer and extreme leftist, Lady Gaga, who is this year’s Super Bowl halftime entertainment, was warned by the NFL that partisan political messaging during her halftime show would not be allowed. The NFL was quick to shut down any talk of limits of what Lady Gaga could do, calling the alleged restrictions “nonsense” and dismissing such reports by saying, “The Super Bowl is a time when people really come together. Lady Gaga is focused on putting together an amazing show for fans and we love working with her on it; we aren’t going to be distracted by this.”
Giving that most of the viewing audience doesn’t want politics shoved down their throats during the game, and that for a performer being able to get the gig for the halftime show is a huge career boost, why wouldn’t the NFL want to have some safeguards in place? Super Bowl Sunday is, after all, the NFL’s highest visibility day of the year, so why would it not want to have some say in the content of the halftime show to make sure it doesn’t offend its customers?
But this is not how the modern NFL operates. If you remember last year’s Super Bowl entertainment, Beyoncé hijacked the halftime show to make it a salute to the Black Lives Matter movement, complete with her and her dancers wearing a wardrobe meant to replicate Black Panthers garb. The NFL was nothing but full of compliments for her performance. In light of this, one would imagine the NFL would be giddy by anything Lady Gaga could offer. An obscenity-laced tirade at Trump? Nothing but good ole free speech and artistic interpretation.
I do, however, feel it necessary to warn Lady Gaga that she may not have as much latitude as the NFL has led her to believe. I’m sure if she does something truly radical by saying “All lives matter” or “America first,” the NFL would cut her mic off in a heartbeat.
