2009 Super Bowl XLIII Commercials - Peta Ad Banned by NBC

Peta Superbowl Commercial. Although a bit racy, PETA's 2009 ad would definitely have had a shot at making the various 'Top Ten' Super Bowl commercial lists if it had aired. Over the past several years, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been renown for promoting their message through controversial campaigns commonly involving nudity with famous actresses, actors, and supermodels.

2009 Banned PETA Super Bowl Commercial

In an email letter from NBC Vice President of Advertising Standards, Victoria Morgan, the PETA Super Bowl Commercial was banned due to the level of sexuality depicted in the 'Veggie Love' ad. Reasons for the denial of the commercial were the following actions that the models were undertaking during the ad:

- Licking a pumpkin

- Touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli

- Moving a pumpkin from behind her legs

- Rubbing the pelvic region with a pumpkin

- Simulating intercourse with broccoli

- Asparagus on her lap looking as if she would simulate intercourse

- Licking an eggplant

- Rubbing asparagus on her breast

Should PETA's Commercial Have Been Banned By NBC?

The first question that I had when reading about and subsequently viewing the 2009 PETA Super Bowl commercial was if it was too racy for network television, how were the two GoDaddy.com ads considered ok? Lots of innuendo in all three commercials, but on the surface it seems as though PETA's reputation may have worked against them for getting into the Super Bowl lineup. Go Daddy's ads were a tad less racy than PETA's ad and resulted in the largest period of sign-on's for the company's web hosting service since it started up in 2005. No stranger to controversy, GoDaddy prepared two ads this year, one a spinoff on baseball's steroid scandal and another one named 'Shower' featuring Danica Patrick whose actions are controlled by three college students. Both ads were shown in the Super Bowl, but were previously approved by NBC's sensors. Decide for yourself. If you haven't seen the GoDaddy.com adds, they are available online at USA Today.