We have to take our hats off to Fox, the NFL, and Lady Gaga. Everyone tuned into Super Bowl 51 expecting to see some sort of anti-Trump statement in the halftime show, and we were mercifully spared the insult. Whether it was Gaga’s decision or one that was made for her by the companies putting on the show, we have to give her credit for not using her live mic to inspire groans from sea to shining sea.
The same can’t be said for some of the advertisers, unfortunately, who just couldn’t resist the impulse to stick their politics out in front of their products. AirBNB, Budweiser, and several others went with “message” ads that preached the value of a diverse, inclusive immigration policy.
But a couple of companies really went out of their way to embarrass themselves.
Audi, for instance, ran an ad that perpetuated the leftist myth that women don’t make as much as men for the same work. “Audi of America is committed to equal pay for equal work,” the commercial stated. That’s fortunate, because said standard is the law of the land in the United States. No matter how many fake “ERA” bills or Lily Ledbetter acts the Democrats try to pass, it won’t change the truth. The statistics bear this out…as long as you remove the often startling differences between men and women as it pertains to the hours they work, the education they bring to the table, and the fields they choose to enter.
But Audi’s commercial was barely a blip on the political radar when compared to a company called 84 Lumber. In this misbegotten ad, a woman and her daughter travel across Central America on their way to a new home across the border. Fox forced the company to cut out the final scene, but 84 Lumber played it in its entirety on their website. In it, the two illegal immigrants are stopped by a big, beautiful border wall, bringing their journey to an end. Or…it would have, except that the friendly folks at 84 Lumber had built a door into the wall, allowing the girls to cross over.
“The will to succeed is always welcome here,” the voiceover says.
Yes, we’ve reached the point where American companies believe there is profit to be had in encouraging illegal immigration.
We’ll see about that.
