UPDATED: CBS Nixes Gay Dating Super Bowl Ad; Pro-Life Christian Ad Approved

(MoneyWatch) 

• UPDATE: CBS has nixed Mancrunch.com's ad. Let the controversy begin!
• UPDATE: See Mancrunch.com's ad below. It's safe for work, and kind of hilarious.

Here's the thing with CBS (CBS)'s decision to allow Focus on the Family to run a pro-life Super Bowl ad featuring Christian college football star Tim Tebow: It looks hypocritical for network to reject Mancrunch.com's bid to advertise its gay internet dating ad in the same slot (video below). Which means that FOF's ad may have opened the door for the first proper gay ad on the Super Bowl. Unintended consequences! And yet that is the path CBS has chosen.

Clearly, CBS* would like the Super Bowl to be a controversy-free mass audience exposure for brands that want to entertain. Having allowed FOF inject politics and religion into the event, CBS can't now credibly argue that it axed the Mancrunch ad because it doesn't want the Bowl to be controversial. According to Fox News:

The 30-second spot shows two men excitedly watching the game, before their hands brush as they both reach into a bowl of chips. Suddenly, the two begin making out, much to the shock of a guy sitting close by.

Mancrunch's tagline is, "Where many many many men come out to play."

CBS has already rejected one gay-themed ad from the game, by GoDaddy.com. That ad features a fictional retired footballer, "Lola," who uses his post-career riches to launch his own line of lingerie. Lola is shown mincing like a fashion designer throughout.

The forgoing suggests the network is a lot more comfortable with conservative Christians than it is with homosexuality, which is not the impression the network wanted to create going in.

And finally: Doesn't the Super Bowl feature a lot of gigantically muscled men hugging each other and slapping each other's butts? Just sayin'.

And finally, 2: If the Mancrunch ad had aired, it wouldn't have been the first gay kiss to air in the big game. That honor belongs to a Snickers spot, which showed two men locking lips over a chocolate bar in 2007. The ad was criticized for being sophomoric and homophobic.

*Disclosure: CBS owns BNET.com.

• Related:
• Focus on the Family Brings Its Sex-Obsessed Agenda to the Super Bowl