The Tim Tebow ad we discussed below was sweet. None of my worries that it would suggest that the only valuable life is "successful" life materialized. The complaint that it endorses violence against women (an alternative version of the ad features Tim "tackling" his mother) strike me as, well, quite forced.The only way I would have known it was a pro-life ad, however, was the publicity. Deprived of the context, it could have been an ad for tetanus shots. Of course, I didn't actually watch the Superbowl, but watched the last couple of episodes of Season Two of Mad Men instead--which explains my focus on advertising strategy.

Cathleen Kaveny is the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor in the Theology Department and Law School at Boston College.

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