Take two minutes to watch NBC’s NASCAR ad below which will be aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl before scrolling down to read the rest of the post.
Go ahead.
I’ll wait.
…
Did you notice anything?
Anything offensive?
Anything that made you really angry?
Angry enough that it would inspire you to sign a petition calling for it to be banned?
Can you guess what it is?
No way you’ll guess.
It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of thing.
A passing reference you probably won’t even remember by the end.
Two seconds in a 2 minute 12 second ad.
Ok.
Here it is.
The big reveal.
…
If you guessed, without any prior knowledge of this story, that there is a Change.org petition that got over 10,000 signatures within a day asking NBC to remove its ad because it “makes fun of those who are gluten-free,” I wish I could give you a million dollar prize, because that’s astounding!
To refresh your memory, the ad begins:
America, it’s time for a gut check. If the Founding Fathers saw us huddled in our little cocoons texting each other smiley faces, they’d hang their powdered wigs in shame. When our idea of danger is eating gluten, there’s trouble afoot. Yes, we the people have gotten soft and all the “likes” in the world aren’t gonna’ save us now.
That’s it. That’s the brief gluten mention that made people freak out and create a petition that says:
NBC is running a Super Bowl ad that makes fun of those who are gluten-free. It implies that we’re soft…we’re weak…we’re part of America’s problem. When all we’re trying to do is manage our disease. Celiac can be a true pain. The media is not helping and this petition is get NBC to see the light of day.
I think about all of the gluten-free children getting bullied for being “different”, when all they want to do is feel better and fit in. I think about all of the people who have gotten sick at restaurants because the kitchen and/or the staff do not take us seriously. I think about all of those walking around undiagnosed and suffering because they only listen to what is in the media. I think about all of the people in the past who have died prematurely when going gluten-free MAY have been their saving grace.
There are some legitimate points here. I know Celiac disease can be extremely dangerous to those who have it. My brother has Celiac and was up all night throwing up when a restaurant didn’t make his pizza gluten-free as he’d asked.
HOWEVER. Not only is this such a tiny part of a highly entertaining (to me) ad but, as Mary Katharine Ham points out, it’s poking fun at all the people who are gluten-free by choice, say gluten is poison, and push it as a lifestyle:
There’s already a movement growing to, um, ask the network not to run the ad because few sufferers in the Celiac’s community find it offensive. Sigh. Yes, guys, we know Celiac is a disease. I do not envy those who suffer from it. However, the proportion of people who have sworn off gluten because of an actual disease is very, very low. Instead, most of them say they are gluten intolerant or gluten sensitive. Despite new scientific evidence that gluten intolerance and sensitivity might be bunk, gluten-free offerings are now on every shelf and menu you can find, thanks mostly to the thousands upon thousands among us who do not have Celiac but decided to go gluten-free. The proliferation of the gluten-free fad and people without Celiac who demand them has been so ubiquitous as to become a punch line. Maybe those who do actually need gluten-free foods should just be excited about the new variety offered them by this other, large portion of the population who we will continue to lightly mock for their food choices. No, you don’t have to ban the ad. Just sit back with some gluten-free salsa and cider and enjoy with the rest of us. If not, you’re just proving Swanson’s point, and you will have to reckon with him.
Or, to paraphrase the video: America, it’s time for a gut check. When ads like this one are petitioned to be banned from the Super Bowl, there’s trouble afoot!
