This year’s Super Bowl telecast generated about 150 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission, with the bulk of the beefs centering on Prince’s halftime performance and a Snickers commercial. As seen in the letters on the following pages, many correspondents were upset because they believed that the rock star was manipulating his guitar as if it were a penis. As one viewer noted in an e-mail, the “pro-homosexual theme” of this year’s event, telecast on CBS, was “disgraceful.” The writer added that “just because 6% of the population is gay,” porn did not need to be included in the broadcast. Another purportedly offended viewer was concerned that the halftime show would have an unfortunate lasting effect on his son, who “hoped to be a quarterback and now he will turn out gay…Thanks CBS for turning my son GAY.” The Snickers commercial–in which two mechanics accidentally kiss as they jointly eat a candy bar–repulsed some football fans, one of whom wrote of feeling “violated” by the ad. “God knows, I didn’t turn on the superbowl expecting to be tricked into watching gay sex!” One woman reported that her son exclaimed, “What the?!” when he saw the Snickers commercial. “My husband rushed in to see the men kissing. This violates our religious beliefs and exposes our children to obscene and disgusting material they are taught are wrong. I want something done about this!!”
Some people need to get a life. Some of the comments made me smile.