by Claudine Zap

For some (OK, most), Super Bowl Sunday will be about the meeting of the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. For those watching the ads, it might be seen as a smackdown between Tim Tebow and the gay dating site Mancrunch. But the real competition might be an old Snickers ad. Let us explain.

The former Florida Gators quarterback will star in a pro-life ad from the Christian group Focus on the Family. Despite the controversial topic, CBS responded to critics saying it was just fine with "responsibly produced" advocacy ads.

But the line got drawn with Mancrunch, which was told by CBS it could not, well, come out for the Super Bowl. Mancrunch complained the rejection smacked of "straight up discrimination," although the issue could have been straight up financial — the upstart site would have had to pony up $2.5 million for a 30-second spot. CBS explained its decision, as reported by Media Bistro: "The creative is not within the Network's Broadcast Standards for Super Bowl Sunday."

Gawker pointed out that the standards seemed pretty loose when running the Snickers kiss ad a few years back. That one featured two guys accidentally smooching as they share a Snickers bar "Lady in the Tramp" style. Check it out below. The Mancrunch ad, which you can watch uncensored (you're welcome) is pretty funny. Basically, two men on a couch are watching the game, get excited by a play, and then make out — while a third guy looks on in shock. Even without a primetime Super Bowl slot, the ad is starting to get some notice. One-day searches on Yahoo! for "mancrunch" soared almost 5,000%.
See what other Super Bowl ads have been rejected.

A spokesperson for the dating site referenced the approved Tebow ad in his response to the CBS rejection, saying: "We are very disappointed that in 2010 such discrimination is happening especially given the fact that Focus on the Family is allowed to promote their way of life during the Super Bowl." And anyway, it's not like Super Bowl viewers haven't seen men kiss in ads during the game before — the Snickers ad took care of that.

But hey, you can watch both ads and do your own math.

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by Mike Krumboltz

Ayla Brown, daughter of the newly elected Sen. Scott Brown, has a new album.

Ms. Brown is no stranger to the spotlight. As a former contestant on "American Idol," she finished among season five's top 16. Still, it took her father’s recent win in the Massachusetts Senate race to really raise her online profile. His embarassing, off-the-cuff remarks ("My daughter is available," he quipped, much to his daughter's horror) certainly didn't hurt.

Following her dad’s surprise victory and TMI-fueled speech, Web searches for "ayla brown" and "ayla brown singer" surged into the thousands. Folks wanted to know more than just her relationship status.

Ask, and ye shall receive. Ayla has a new CD out entitled "Circles," and its getting a good amount of buzz. The album was originally scheduled to be released in April, but Ms. Brown has elected to strike while the iron is hot. The five-song EP debuted on iTunes earlier this month.

According to a blog from The Washington Post, customer reviews range from "She is very talented" to "these are some of the worst songs i've ever heard." Web lookups on "ayla brown circles" and "ayala brown circles reviews" both posted significant gains over the past week.

But how's the album? The New York Post offers up its own take on Ms. Brown’s effort. The paper gives props to the faster, happier tunes—the slower ballads, not so much. Still, the Post remarks that Ms. Brown never embarasses herself with the record. In other words, she's got talent.  

Want to see and hear for yourself? Yahoo! Video has several clips, including the video for "Pick It Up." Check it out below...

 

 

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by Claudine Zap

There are two types of people in this world: Those that watch the Super Bowl as a sporting event and those who tune in for the million-dollar ads.

Tim Tebow is straddling both worlds. With a starring role in a pro-life ad for the Christian group Focus on the Family, the former Florida Gators quarterback has stepped into the abortion controversy on the biggest TV-commercial viewing day of the year.

While the ad hasn't been made public yet, it purportedly chronicles the story of Tebow's mother, Pam Tebow, when pregnant in 1987 with her fifth child. She got sick but decided to ignore her doctor's advice to terminate her pregnancy, and instead delivered Tim.

Already searches on the Super Bowl ad are scoring big. One-day lookups on "tim tebow commercial" are up over 300%. Queries are also spiking on "tim tebow abortion" and "tim tebow super bowl ad."

The anti-abortion statement has already sparked major controversy with women's groups, who are criticizing CBS for letting it air. A letter from the Women's Media Center protested that the network will offend the public and advertisers by offering a coveted ad spot "…to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization." CBS responded to complaints by offering up a new policy for advocacy ads that are "responsibly produced" — and can come up with $2.5 million for a 30-second spot.
Find out what ads were rejected by the Super Bowl.

Tebow, who is considered a top prospect in the 2010 NFL draft, defended his participation in the ad, acknowledging that although some people won't agree with it, he hopes they respect him for standing up for his beliefs. Game on.

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Move over, Crazy Frog. The ultimate pop-culture cartoon pop star has a new song out.

by Mike Krumboltz

Roughly 99.9% of the time, airport delays are completely unremarkable. And that's a good thing. But every so often something kind of cool happens while delayed passengers play with their Blackberries and grumble about missed connections.

Such was the case this past weekend, when a singer took it upon himself to lead some stranded passengers in a group sing-a-long of "Hey Jude" by The Beatles. When the Newark airport terminal went on security lockdown and nobody was allowed to leave, Josh Wilson grabbed his guitar, got his fellow passengers to act as his backup singers, and took a sad situation and, well, made it better.

The video is quickly going viral, and you can check it out below. The clip starts out nicely and then gets better. Better, better, better, better, yeah! Everybody, now!

 

 

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No doubt, Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" video was the top music related viral hit this year. The song is catchy. The message resonates with women fresh out of bad relationships. But it's the dancing that made tons of fans record their own versions of the video.