Fair or foul: NFL rejects ad from Veterans Group for Super Bowl asking players to stand

What is the military and first responder hang up with the protests? It has nothing to do with military or first responders. Three generations of service members in my family and none of us can figure it out.

The ad would obviously provoke animosity for millions of people watching the game. Even if the actual message is positive.

The NFL doesn't want that negative attention if it can help it.

They just want to be victims and will do whatever mental gymnastics necessary to get there

I just don't get why they'd spend $30k on an ad about protests that have nothing to do with the military. Wouldn't they be better off using that money somewhere else where it directly benefits veterans?

Jonathan Gault wrote:

I just don't get why they'd spend $30k on an ad about protests that have nothing to do with the military. Wouldn't they be better off using that money somewhere else where it directly benefits veterans?

Why does anyone spend money on advertising? It's to raise awareness, which seems to have worked since we're talking about it on a running message board.

Overall, it's perfectly fair for the NFL to reject whatever ad they want. It's may not be the wisest decision though... we are talking about it on a running message board, after all. The backlash they get from denying the ad may be more than if the ad just ran.

This is probably exactly what the veterans group wanted. They get all the (heck, more) publicity as if the ad ran, without having to pay the million bucks to actually run it.

Oh great, let’s stoke the coals of this culture war topic and get it fired up again.

Everybody just needs to shut up and fall in line!

asdfe wrote:

Jonathan Gault wrote:

I just don't get why they'd spend $30k on an ad about protests that have nothing to do with the military. Wouldn't they be better off using that money somewhere else where it directly benefits veterans?

Why does anyone spend money on advertising? It's to raise awareness, which seems to have worked since we're talking about it on a running message board.

Spectacular answer avoiding the legit question Gault asked.

Ronald Dump wrote:

asdfe wrote:

Why does anyone spend money on advertising? It's to raise awareness, which seems to have worked since we're talking about it on a running message board.

Spectacular answer avoiding the legit question Gault asked.

Increased awareness can lead to increased fund raising. Generally, groups like this view ad spending as an investment. The hope is that spending money on advertising now will hopefully lead to more money to spend directly on benefits for veterans, which may or may not exceed the $30k spent on the ad. I wasn't trying to avoid answering the question - I should have been more clear on the potential conclusion of awareness campaigns.

As I understand it, the NFL is a private outfit and can accept or reject any ads for any reason.

Kind of like letsrun.com.

Definitely fair to block that ad. It's simply propaganda meant to pit one side against another. All of this nonsense about "support our troops" and "honor the military" should be banned from sports along with the anthem. The purpose of all that is to brainwash the populace into kneejerk patriotism, and it works fabulously.

Our government uses the military to enforce our policies worldwide. Sometimes it's for the good, sometimes not. They put a human face on it (our husbands, wives, sons, daughters, whatever) so that you don't think about the reality of what is being done (like invading Iraq).

I hate blind patriotism. Nothing in life is all good nor all bad, including our Country.

Regardless of the intent of the protesters, they chose a method of protest that communicates something entirely different and offensive to the large majority of military and veteran families and those with similar values. Those of us who are veterans have vocally communicated what the players' actions convey to us and how disrespectful of our service and our country those actions appear to be. The NFL players have totally ignored our responses and and continued to insult our service with their actions.

bad messaging wrote:

Regardless of the intent of the protesters, they chose a method of protest that communicates something entirely different and offensive to the large majority of military and veteran families and those with similar values. Those of us who are veterans have vocally communicated what the players' actions convey to us and how disrespectful of our service and our country those actions appear to be. The NFL players have totally ignored our responses and and continued to insult our service with their actions.

The national anthem and the flag represent our country's core values, not the military.

If they were turning their backs on a POWMIA flag or the USAF or USMC flag, etc, that would be offensive. But they arent, theyre kneeling to quietly and respectfully protest what they see as a failure in our country to uphold one of our core values of equality.

Screaming "me, me, me, me, me" doesnt suddenly make it about you and it just makes you a bully and embarassment to those who served our country.

The picture of the soldiers raising the American flag after battle. Soldiers fought to represent us an all the flag stand's for. Fxxx the NFL if they are so concerned about the cause let them spend some of their millions to make changes.

Thank you for telling me what the national anthem and flag represent. Apparently, my comment was not interpreted by you in the way it was intended. The irony of that almost certainly is lost on you.

The NFL and windbag Godell are hypocrites. On one hand they allow the players to make a "political" statement, but then say that the ad is not allowed because its too "political"? I personally won't be watching, and I'm from New England. Idiots! (Apologies to Napoleon Dynamite).

You say they knelt to respectfully protest the failure in our country to uphold one of our core values of equality. I understand that this is what the players in their fantasy-football-delusion think they are protesting. What middle America wants to know is how exactly are we not respecting the value of equality? What exact law in America in 2018 is discriminating against anyone?

The BLM movement failed to offer anything convincing other than an assortment of anecdotal events the sometimes showed bad cop behavior and sometimes showed belligerent fools getting themselves killed. Unfortunately for BLM, middle America understands the difference between anecdotal evidence and statistically solid causal evidence. If BLM could have just focused their goals on more accountability for bad policing, EVERYONE in the country would have been on board. Instead it was "racism, racism, racism." Middle America is done playing that game.

The fans want you to pull your head out of your fantasy football delusion and realize what a blessing it is to live in the USA at this time, and stand for the anthem when the fans (who pay for your salary) are also standing. Is that really too much to ask?

The NFL management are also caught up in this delusion and are taking every action to continue to decrease NFL ratings. Good luck with that.

Rojo is at it once again. Stirring the pot of his base. We know where you stand.