The greatest spectacle of Super Bowl XLVIII won’t be on the field—it’ll be during the commercial breaks. In today’s fractured media environment, Super Bowl ads are the greatest opportunity companies have to put their brand in front of a massive audience. Sometimes these much-watched commercials can spark conversation for all the wrong reasons, though. Here, TIME looks back at the most controversial Super Bowl ads ever, some of which were deemed so inappropriate they never made it to air.
The 13 Most Controversial Super Bowl Ads Ever
There Is Such a Thing as Bad Publicity
Full List
Controversial Super Bowl Ads
- There Is Such a Thing as Bad Publicity
- 13. PETA Gets Sexy With Vegetables
- 12. Tim Tebow Enters the Abortion Debate
- 11. Skechers Promotes Dog Racing
- 10. Groupon Turns Tibet’s Troubles Into a Punchline
- 9. eCard Company Indulges in Sexist Male Fantasy
- 8. Manly Men Accidentally Kiss in Snickers Ad
- 7. Salesgenie Offends With Cartoon Caricatures
- 6. GoDaddy Proves That Sex Sells
- 5. Pornhub Makes a Not-so-Naughty Commercial
- 4. Ashley Madison Wants to Help You Have an Affair
- 3. Holiday Inn Is Like a Transgender Woman
- 2. Shoe Retailer Pits Black Runner Against White Hunters
- 1. Senate Candidate Makes the Worst Possible Ad About China