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A Droll Sports Ad, Or Violent Imagery?Pillow fights seem harmless enough. But that is not the view of an agency that approves television advertisements in Canada, at least when one of the participants is a 6 foot 5 inch American League designated hitter who weighs 275 pounds. Multimedia Video Toronto Blue Jays AdThe Television Bureau of Canada has refused to approve a 30-second Toronto Blue Jays commercial in which a smiling Frank Thomas whacks a small boy off a bed during a pillow fight. A lot of us are puzzled, said Laurel Lindsay, vice president for marketing of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club. When the agency informed me that the bureau had an issue with it, I thought it was a joke. In the advertisement, Mr. Thomas portrays a father who is trying to end a pillow fight between two young boys. One of the boys hits Mr. Thomas with a pillow. Oh, yeah? Mr. Thomas says before grabbing a pillow and swinging it like a bat to knock the boy off the bed. After the boy lands with a pronounced thud, Mr. Thomas trots out of the room as if he were running bases. The child, apparently no worse for wear, pops up from the floor and says, Whoa! But Jim Patterson, president and chief executive of the television bureau, which vets commercials for most Canadian private broadcasters, demurs. We understand humor, we understand pillow fights, he said. The issue is power, and that the kid actually takes flight, disappears off the side of the bed and lands with a crash. Thats not acceptable behavior with a child and a person that large. Adults do not hit children. Thats unacceptable in real life, and it should be unacceptable in commercials. Tony Ciccia, a vice president of Publicis Canada, which created the ad, said it should be obvious that Mr. Thomas is not committing a violent act. He said the television bureaus rejection seemed peculiar, given a feature of Canadas most popular sport. We can fight in hockey, he said, but we cant hit each other with pillows. IAN AUSTEN Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationFrank Piasecki, a Pioneer in Helicopters, Is Dead at 88...Forget 2008. Next year is the one to fear... A380 Test Flight: 2 Bars, 15 Lavatories and 200 Reporters... Higher Costs Cited as U.S. Shuts Down Coal Project... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - A Droll Sports Ad, Or Violent Imagery? |
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