Video: The banned Blue Jays ad
posted at 10:00 am on April 10, 2007 by Allahpundit
Banned by a private regulatory body, it should be noted, not the Canadian government.
There’s a world of difference, it seems, between knocking a kid off a bed in a pillow fight and knocking him up into the air. Nuance.
Blowback
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Hey I had something like that happen with my son and me. We were pillow fighting and he fell off the bed. I went oh crap are you ok and he look at me and started laughing, mother wasn’t laughing tho.
djohn669 on April 10, 2007 at 10:14 AM
We all know what’s really wrong with this commercial.
It should be two lesbian moms pillow fighting with their adopted inter-racial children.
Having an athlete (shocked and aghast!), a male athlete, roughhousing with his children is… it’s an affront to common decency!
Nethicus on April 10, 2007 at 10:18 AM
That bannister doesn’t look too sturdy…
JetBoy on April 10, 2007 at 10:23 AM
Frank’s a good guy-it’s a good ad. I know the Canada is more Socialist/Leftist than the United States, but that ‘private regulatory body’ seems to have made a fuss over nothing. Maybe it’s a case of: “One person complained so now we have to do something!”
Doug on April 10, 2007 at 10:25 AM
I have the strangest desire to pummel a kid into oblivion now.
lorien1973 on April 10, 2007 at 10:35 AM
I agree. You’d think he could afford a well constructed house :P
lorien1973 on April 10, 2007 at 10:36 AM
OK, that ad was FUNNY!
“Private Regulatory body?
Sheesh!
Lonevoice on April 10, 2007 at 10:37 AM
Ridiculous.
Much ado over nothing.
I guess the private regulatory body that banned this has to justify their existence in some way.
asc85 on April 10, 2007 at 10:38 AM
Good to know Big Frank still has it. BTW, if he was really swinging for the fences that kid would have been embedded in the wall.
Bill C on April 10, 2007 at 10:53 AM
Thinking the same thing.
I saw nothing wrong with the ad (other than the banister). It’s funny, and doesn’t hurt anyone.
amerpundit on April 10, 2007 at 10:56 AM
I’ve seen some of the other ads and they all have the same theme. Out of nowhere, a man does something, but he totally overdoes it and then it turns out he’s a baseball player. I think the ads are funny (I usually hate ads and almost always mute them).
The first time I saw the one in which a man at a wedding suddenly leaps forward, catches a bridal bouquet and throws it — hard — at a bride, I was shocked (the bride didn’t look happy about being hit) until I saw the tagline and got the joke.
This one with the kids is the same. It’s shocking until the kid gets up and says “Wow” and then you would read the tagline, “So-and-so, pitcher/whatever, Toronto Blue Jays”. Then, the next time you see it, you’re primed and can fully appreciate the joke.
I wonder if it was pulled because it’s a black man hitting a kid. Did they worry that black people would complain? (It’s a white man who hits a white bride with her bouquet; did they deem that to be less politically sensitive?)
Unless there’s a private regulatory body for “is it funny or is it ain’t”.
Josephine on April 10, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Next thing you know they’ll be getting upset about little boys playing with little plastic soldiers…
taznar on April 10, 2007 at 11:10 AM
PC is the end of freedom
doginblack on April 10, 2007 at 11:15 AM
The ad obviously reinforces the stereotype that black men are hot headed and resort to physical violence to settle disputes.
It is also unrealistic in that 75-80% of black children are born to unwed mothers with no adult male present at all. It should have been the child’s grandmother smacking the child, duh.
Neo on April 10, 2007 at 11:55 AM
What is the fear here? Are adults who see Frank as a role model are going to start hitting their kids with pillows?
The loons are in charge of the nut house in canada.
csdeven on April 10, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Figures.
I thought it was pretty funny. :-)
drjohn on April 10, 2007 at 12:40 PM
They talked about that ad getting banned last week on RedEye. I think the ad’s hilarious. The Thought Police obviously need to get down out of their ivory tower more often and encounter some real people. Have these PC nitwits never heard of slapstick, or do they just have no sense of humor at all?
ReubenJCogburn on April 10, 2007 at 12:47 PM
And here I was thinking, “Hey, look! A father figure!” Maybe it’s that implication that was offensive…
zs57 (ookina tsubasa)
zenstudent57 on April 10, 2007 at 12:49 PM
What’s the matter? The little punk-assed runt got back up, didn’t he?
As the late Chick Hearn would say, “No harm, no foul, no ambulance”.
kevcad on April 10, 2007 at 12:49 PM
A riot!
If you can’t tell that it’s acting, you should not be allowed to stay up after 9 PM.
Psssst — Television is MAKE BELIEVE!
Wander on April 10, 2007 at 1:21 PM
That was great. I laughed so hard I scared my dog!
Greatest commercial of all time.
SnakeintheGrass on April 10, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Look close, private regulatory people . . . The kid didn’t get hit hard enough to go anywhere, and Frank Thomas had a grin on that told me he was about to crack up on camera.
The kid made it look pretty good. Not a bad backfall for someone that age.
52Ranger on April 10, 2007 at 2:19 PM
I teach middle school, that was the stuff teacher fantasies are made of.
Mojave Mark on April 10, 2007 at 3:46 PM
Last thing we need is a Black dad and his sons having fun together. Could mean lots of seats in the next election.
Hening on April 10, 2007 at 4:05 PM
I’m surprised that they still permit sports up there in the Great White Waste of Time; in competition, there are inevitable winners and losers, and the latter may tragically experience sadness or injury to self-esteem. Has anyone watched a Blue Jays game lately? Do they still keep score?
Buckleyite on April 10, 2007 at 4:16 PM
That was a funny commercial. . .
And those kids had a blast.
The PC police can screw-up anything , and just stroll on
over to the next aisle to do it again.
Texyank on April 10, 2007 at 4:39 PM
That ad was Hilarious. The TV has no problem showing drug commercial after drug commercial..esp viagra ones..and they yank this one?
I was playing it and my 2 yr old was watching it and she started to laugh and said *again*. lol.
Highrise on April 10, 2007 at 4:54 PM
I grew up in a world where there were pillow-fights. I’m scarred for life by this video.
smellthecoffee on April 11, 2007 at 1:35 PM