The People Have a Right to See...

Tim Cavanaugh | January 7, 2005

...Mickey Rooney's ass. Fox's standards department reviewed a Superbowl ad for cold remedy Airborne, in which the two-time honorary Oscar winner shows his crack, and, in the passive-voice description of a Fox Sports spokesman, "it was deemed inappropriate for broadcast."

Rooney objects: "What we're selling here is something I really believe in, which is an awareness of the germs we're all exposed to. There's nothing sensual about the brief exposure of my backside, and it's not gratuitous. ... It's a fun spot, and the public deserves to see it."

While it's good to see Rooney on the side of free expression* this time around, note that not too many years ago he was making news as the celebrity spokesman for a nationwide ban on crush video. What a difference when it's your own tail on the line.

Interestingly, Airborne is now trying to get the FCC to require Fox to broadcast the spot, an effort that is, obviously, going nowhere.

(* Blah blah blah private company yakity yak right to do whatever they choose with their own airtime gobble gobble gobble not censorship unless the government hickory dickory libertarians should be applauding Fox, etc.)