The 49ers may be in the Super Bowl on Sunday, but that apparently doesn’t mean the NFL is interested in having television viewers be reminded of the political viewpoints of San Francisco’s controversial former quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
PETA said the NFL rejected its 60-second animated commercial that uses Kaepernick’s social justice movement’s signature gesture of taking a knee to illustrate the animal rights organization’s own cause.
THIS is the PETA #SuperBowl ad the @NFL apparently didn’t want you to see and pressured @FOXSports to snub.
It envisions a world where respect is the right of every being and pays homage to Kaepernick and movements rejecting injustice. https://t.co/kD1osnKhuX #EndSpeciesism pic.twitter.com/clXzU79aZV
— PETA (@peta) January 31, 2020
FOX, which is broadcasting Sunday’s 49ers-Chiefs battle in Super Bowl LIV, didn’t accept PETA’s offer of the going rate of $10 million for the commercial showing many species of animals taking a knee in protest of poor treatment by humans.
“The National Football League apparently found our new Colin Kaepernick-inspired ad — with its message of inclusion and respect — too daring and pressured FOX to snub our commercial,” PETA said in a message on its website. “PETA worked with a talented group of advertisers and artists who came up with the idea for our beautiful ad. Positively acknowledged by Kaepernick himself, this project pays homage to all movements that remind us to open our hearts and minds and reject all forms of injustice, including sexism, ableism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and speciesism. … The NFL may be unconcerned with inequality, but we at PETA are activists who will continue to work to dismantle all forms of oppression.”
The commercial itself is a mix of patriotism — there’s a humming of the national anthem throughout the ad — and anti-speciesism and was deemed too political by the NFL in a statement it released via Yahoo Sports.
“The Super Bowl game program is designed for fans to commemorate and celebrate the game, players, teams and the Super Bowl. It’s never been a place for advertising that could be considered by some as a political statement,” the NFL said.
As Yahoo pointed out, though, the NFL has in the past rejected other politically motivated Super Bowl ads, including one from veteran’s organization AMVETS two years ago that combated Kaepernick’s cause by imploring all people to stand for the anthem.
Of course, acting with political motivations has been much more costly for Kaepernick. His fervent support of fighting social injustices, including police brutality, has been a big reason why he hasn’t played in the NFL since leaving the 49ers 3 1/2 years ago.
