Company forced to re-tool Super Bowl ad rejected for depicting Trumps border wall [View all]

[flamingdem]

** Was there a wall or a barbed wire fence? All I saw was the giant door, sure looked wall-like.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/02/04/company-re-tools-rejected-super-bowl-ad-but-you-can-still-see-the-original/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.9a699a45f8ca

Perhaps more than any other time in history, politics appears to be playing a larger role than ever in the Super Bowl. Bill O’Reilly is set to interview President Trump in an interview that will air before the game; former president George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, will do the coin toss; Lady Gaga may or may not deliver a political message in her halftime performance; and some of the ads will tackle controversial social issues such as immigration.

One such ad was imagined by the family-owned company 84 Lumber, which decided to tackle the subject in its first Super Bowl ad. It won’t be exactly how the company originally planned it, however.

In the ad’s initial iteration, a Mexican mother and daughter, who appear to be on their way to the United States, come across a depiction of an imposing border wall, reminiscent of the one Trump has touted will eventually divide the country from Mexico.

“Ignoring the border wall and the conversation around immigration that’s taking place in the media and at every kitchen table in America just didn’t seem right,” said Rob Shapiro, the chief client officer at Brunner, the agency that worked with 84 Lumber to come up with the ad. “If everyone else is trying to avoid controversy, isn’t that the time when brands should take a stand for what they believe in?”

But while 84 Lumber believed in its message, Fox, which will air the game on Sunday, thought it was a little too controversial.

“Fox would not let us air ‘the wall,’ ” Schapiro said.

“Of course we were disappointed,” added Amy Smiley, 84 Lumber’s director of marketing. “But ultimately, it’s their network and their decision.”

[Super Bowl 2017: Latest news, commercials, halftime show info, betting guide and more]

Smiley said Fox expressed “concerns about some of the elements” in the initial spot and so when the network ultimately rejected the ad last month, she “understood their reasons.”

Smiley said current events played a role in the ad’s rejection, especially all the talk about Trump’s proposed wall.

“…[T]he conversation in the media exploded around this topic, and it evolved into something controversial that made Fox a little too uncomfortable,” she said.

Fox did not immediately return The Post’s request to comment.

Ultimately, 84 Lumber and Brunner came up with an edit that Fox finally approved and will air on Sunday. Gone is the wall, replaced by a less imposing barbed-wire fence at what appears to be the border.