British rapper M.I.A. has been criticised by a parental advocacy group after she made a gesture with her middle finger during a live broadcast of the Superbowl last Sunday.

M.I.A., the stage name of Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, was in the middle of performing alongside Nicki Minaj and Madonna during the globally-televised sports event’s half-time show when the incident occurred. During the track ‘Give Me All Your Luvin”, M.I.A. raised her middle finger, however, her finger was not blurred out by broadcaster NBC due to the fact that it “occurred too quickly for its technical system to catch“.

Still, the Parents Television Council (PTC) has publicly criticised both NBC and M.I.A. for this event taking place in the first place. The organisation’s President, Tim Winter, had the following to say:

NBC fumbled and the NFL lied because a performer known as M.I.A. felt it necessary to flip off millions of families. It is unfortunate that a spectacular sporting event was overshadowed once again by broadcasting the selfish acts of a desperate performer … They chose a lineup full of performers who have based their careers on shock, profanity and titillation. Instead of preventing indecent material, they enabled it. M.I.A. used a middle finger shamelessly to bring controversial attention to herself, while effectively telling an audience filled with children, ‘F– you.’”

The PTC made further accusations toward the organisers’ culpability in this event, noting that as recently as last week the PTC had been informed that making the Super Bowl’s half-time show ‘appropriate’ would be a priority. The PTC concluded their statement on the matter by insisting:

The mechanism NBC had in place to catch this type of material completely failed, and the network cannot say it was caught off guard…

Their closing comment alludes to a well-publicised incident at the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show in which singer Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed during an onstage performance with Justin Timberlake. CBS, the broadcaster of the Super Bowl that year, received a $550,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and resulted in a significant increase in the number of complaints and fines received and issued, respectively, by the FCC.

The 2004 Super Bowl had an estimated 87.79 million viewers in the United States alone, while this year’s event was broadcast is said to have garnered 111.3 million viewers – making it the most-watched television show in U.S. history. As a result, M.I.A.’s gesture has the potential to incite an even greater public outcry, especially in light of the revelation that during the Super Bowl, a record-breaking 12,333 tweets per second were sent out about the event.

The article M.I.A.’s Middle Finger Sparks PTC Super Bowl Furore appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Audi’s :60 TV spot set to air in the first break after kick-off of Super Bowl XLVI is now live on the brand’s YouTube channel. The cinematic spot – which features a vampire theme and the new 2013 Audi S7 with the brand’s signature LED headlight technology – has been pieced together by Facebook users who cracked the commercial with Audi’s social media contest called ‘Race the Light.’

Through ‘Race the Light,” Audi released its upcoming ad as a 60-piece puzzle for fans to solve and share. Audi’s signature LED headlights take center stage in the spot.  The all new 2013 Audi S7 arrives at a vampire party in the woods and brings with it an unexpected surprise.

“In the spot, Audi LEDs – which at 5,500 Kelvin produce the closest recreation of daylight available – put an end to the vampire party, and perhaps, to the greater vampire trend in pop culture,” said Scott Keogh, Chief Marketing Officer, Audi of America.

The vampire trend exploded onto the pop culture scene over a decade ago, with over a dozen television shows and over 24 movies launched in recent years, as well as countless books, video games and even vampire-themed cruises.

“Given the power of the Super Bowl platform, we wanted to create an entertaining spot that clearly focused on our LED headlights — one of our key product attributes – while also sparking conversation about whether or not it’s time for us to move on from the omnipresent vampire trend into something new and even more exciting,” Keogh added.

The advertisement features the song “The Killing Moon” by Echo & The Bunnymen and was created bySan Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners. Audi also released a cinematic trailer on YouTube that looks back at Audi’s Super Bowl spots from the past four years and features footage from this year’s commercial.

Last year, Audi’s adventurous “Release the Hounds” spot featured the new Audi A8 flagship sedan, a cameo by legendary musician Kenny G, and was a parody of individuals attempting to escape from the confines of old luxury as portrayed in a luxury prison. In 2010, Audi’s Super Bowl ad showcased a soundtrack created by rock legends Cheap Trick and featured the A3 TDI “Green Car of the Year” clean diesel vehicle, showing how easy being green can be.

The brand’s 2009 spot featured actor Jason Statham in a series of high-speed chase scenes involving luxury competitors, sending the message that luxury is evolving. In 2008, the brand’s first Super Bowl spot delivered a parody of the movie “The Godfather,” signaling that Audi was ready to take on the perceived luxury leaders.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/newenglandpatriots

The article Audi Releases Super Bowl XLVI Ad on YouTube appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.