As another Super Bowl Sunday came and went, we have had time to reflect on advertisements from brands and organizations of all sorts, whether it’s Old Spice starring the lovable Terry Crews or that Doritos commercial with the goat. Some of them can be funny, while others are emotional and tear-jerking. However, a new ad was rejected by the Super Bowl, managing to be a laughing stock more than an emotional ride, as it was widely considered to be cashing in on a civil rights movement.
The animal organization, PETA, had an animated commercial using a speech made by Colin Kaepernick, an American football quarterback and civil rights activist. In the commercial, animals are shown “taking the knee” as a protest against people who disrespect them. As someone who loves animals and advocates for civil rights, I remember looking at this commercial and admiring the animation for a few seconds before it cut to a bee taking a knee. By that time, I literally found the ad to be unbearable to watch, as we’re hearing Kaepernick’s speech he made to support the Black Lives Matter movement being used for PETA’s campaign. To put it nice and short, PETA compared the life of an animal to the life of a black person.