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March 10, 2015

FCC Receives Complaints About Super Bowl XLIX Broadcast

TOUCHYVILLE, USA—North Carolina's WRAL News was curious enough about the number of people who contacted the Federal Communications Commission to register complaints about the Super Bowl XLIX broadcast that the station filed a FOIA request with the government to find out, and today they received not only the information they were seeking, but redacted copies of the complaints, Names of the complainants are blacked out, which is probably a good thing considering how lame they are. Claiming these commercials are porn is getting a little stale, even though they are getting a little raunchier. But some people were also upset about perceived insensitivity in other commercials, and also Missy Elliott's rap lyrics during the Halftime Show, which someone actually copied into their complaint.  But the good news is that out of the 114.4 million Americans who tuned in, the FCC only received 34 complaints about the broadcast, "most of which focused on sexuality in commercials and swear words during the halftime show, which featured singers Katy Perry, Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz," WRAL reported. The complaints can be read here, along with the responses by the FCC, which has gotten pretty good at telling people to take a hike. For instance, in response to a number of complaints about commercials such as the Carl's Jr. ad featuring model Charlotte McKinney, in which she appears to be nude but is not, the FCC replied, in part, "We do not resolve individual complaints about this issue and, there will be no status information to report on your complaint, Your complaint ... was closed as of today." But not all of the complaints had to do with perceived indecency in commercials or concern about some of the lyrics during the halftime show, but also, in particular, the controversial Nationwide ad featuring the little boy who never grew up because he died. One such complaint read, "I, and millions of other parents who have lost children, have been deeply offended by Nationwide's Superbowl commercial. We are fragile, and being blindsided during what should be a pleasant event is just wrong. I have PTSD, and this has triggered a long night of terrors!" To which the FCC replied, in part, "Individuals may find programming to be offensive, even though the material does not meet the FCC definition of obscene, indecent, or profane. Accordingly, we are closing your complaint as criticism of the content of the programming, which is not a violation." But they do add as a suggestion, "We encourage you to convey your concerns, whether general or program-specific, directly to station management. This can be an effective method to influence a broadcast licensee's programming decisions." Possible but unlikely, considering that the vast majority of viewers never register a complaint with anyone whether they like the commercials or not. If anything, Super Bowl ads will only continue to push mainstream boundaries as viewership rises, ad spots become more expensive and the need to stand out from the crowd leads programmers into edgier territory.  Image: Model Charlotte McKinnon gets a squeeze (sort of) in the Carls Jr. Super Bowl ad an infinitesimal percentage of people found offensive enough to complain about.

 
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