Fox nixes bare-butt Mickey Rooney ad for Super Bowl
Mickey Rooney's backside in a Super Bowl ad: No, especially not after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at last year's Super Bowl. Fox has rejected a proposed ad for Airborne, a natural cold remedy revealing the 84-year-old's rear end. In the spot, the veteran movie star freaks out when someone coughs behind him in a sauna -- jumping up, screaming and heading for the door, with his towel slipping in the confusion and baring his backside for about two seconds, according to the newspaper.
"Our standards department reviewed the ad and it was deemed inappropriate for broadcast," Lou d'Ermilio, spokesman for Fox Sports, told the paper.
Although there's nudity involved, Airborne co-owner Rider McDowell categorized the commercial as harmless. "It's tantamount to showing a baby's bottom," he told the newspaper, expanding on his statement that there's "nothing sexual about the ad."
Rooney concurred, releasing a statement that included the following: "There's nothing sensual about the brief exposure of my backside, and it's not gratuitous. ... It's a fun spot, and the public deserves to see it."
McDowell thinks Fox is being "overzealous" in rejecting the ad after months of talks. The $1.2 million Airborne planned to spend on the 15-second spot represents 10% of the California-based company's budget, according to the paper.
David Rice, McDowell's lawyer, sent a letter last week to the FCC, arguing that the ad is "amusing and entirely appropriate for broadcast" and urging the commission to issue an order directing Fox to broadcast it, adding that an FCC spokeswoman had responded Thursday that such an order would never happen because the commission responds to complaints after things air.
RBR observation:
Sources of this report comes from USA Today so don't blame our butt we are just letting you know in advance. Actually seeing Rooney's 84 year old bare butt just has us off the record laughing our butts off. Now there probably would have been a big brouhaha if it was the other Mickey's bare butt Airborne was using. Think about it.
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
