The National Football League will use Super Bowl Sunday to further refurbish its image by demonstrating its commitment to curtailing domestic violence.
The league is setting aside 30 seconds during Sunday's game — a slot valued at $4.5 million — for a public service ad from No More to raise awareness of domestic abuse,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
The NFL has already donated about $50 million of ad time to No More counting commercials during recent playoff games. It has also taken other steps, including creating a domestic-violence working group, donating money to nonprofits battling domestic abuse, and running workshops for players.
The league was embarrassed late last year by the
behavior of some of its star players and condemned over its initially lackadaisical response. The conduct included Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens striking his partner until she fell unconscious in an elevator; Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers beating his girlfriend; Ray McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers hitting his fiancée; and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings physically disciplining his son.
The
Super Bowl commercial is crafted not to distress viewers and so avoids explicit images. It features the voice of a woman speaking to a 911 operator. As the audio is heard, the camera shows the interior of a home after an altercation with various items scattered about and a damaged wall.
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The caller acts as if she is ordering pizza. The dispatcher eventually realizes that the woman needs help but is afraid to be speak openly because her abuser may be nearby. "Is there someone in the room with you — just say yes or no," the dispatcher says. "Yes," the victim responds.
The ad concludes with the tagline: "When it's hard to talk, it's up to us to listen."
Some say Super Bowl Sunday is not the appropriate time to air a commercial about domestic abuse.
"The mood of the Super Bowl is a party and people want to have fun and laugh. They don't want to be talking about difficult subjects," branding expert Allen Adamson told the Journal. "It's like if you were at a party and somebody said, 'let me talk to you about child abuse.'"
League officials maintain that the ad is not about improving its image.
"If my motivation was to help the brand, then I would have slapped the NFL logo on it," marketing officer Dawn Hudson told the Journal. "This is us trying to do the right thing."
Hudson acknowledges that there has been "some diminishment" in the league's brand, but insists that, "Our sponsors have stayed with us, our viewership is up and our financials are strong," according to the Journal.
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