Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC refused to air a paid ad produced by GetToKnowUsFirst.org featuring a gay family and supporting marriage equality during Super Bowl programming. KNBC stated that it had shown the ad to the legal department of the National Football League (NFL), which rejected it for being "advocacy," a category they claim to exclude. Despite this policy, other advocacy ads aired multiple times throughout the day's NFL-controlled programming. Among the advocacy ads which did air were PSAs for TobaccoFreeCA.org and DontBeAnAsterisk.org, an anti-steroids advocacy campaign.
The rejected thirty-second public service announcement (PSA) features two married African American men raising five children ages 6 to 25.
John Ireland, GetToKnowUsFirst.org's Project Organizer was shocked to see the other advocacy ads run during the NFL programming. He said, "We bought ads before, during and after the Super Bowl in ten markets across California. We planned this buy weeks in advance and heard late Friday that the NFL rejected our ads because they violate the NFL's 'no advocacy' policy. I was truly stunned while watching the programming, to see that they had selectively blocked our ads, while allowing other advocacy ads to air."
The rejected ad can be seen at www.GetToKnowUsFirst.org.
