Well, it seems Kevin Federline is not only an insult to Britney Spears and rap music, but fast food clerks as well.
AdAge.com is reporting that the the National Restaurant Association is upset with Nationwide Insurance's planned Super Bowl spot with the wannabe rapper.
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In a letter sent today to Nationwide CEO Jerry Jurgensen, the restaurant association's president-CEO, Steve C. Anderson, complains that the company's Super Bowl ad -- featuring Mr. Federline in various rap-video cliches, but in fact daydreaming while making fries at a fast-food restaurant as his manager yells at him to get to work -- denigrates restaurant workers."We hope that these reports are inaccurate and that Nationwide will not be airing an ad that would give the impression that working in a restaurant is demeaning and unpleasant. An ad such as this would be a strong and a direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry," Mr. Anderson writes.
While we understand the perspective of the National Restaurant Association, please recognize this Super Bowl advertisement is a humorous take on one person's life," said Eric Hardgrove, a spokesman for Nationwide. "The intent of the ad isn't to offend or insult the many fine individuals who work in the restaurant industry. The focus of the ad is the element of surprise, not the setting of a fast-food restaurant."
Nationwide's Super Bowl ad, done by TM Advertising, Dallas, is part of the insurer's "Life Comes at You Campaign" and is the company's second entrance into the Super Bowl. A year ago Nationwide's ad featured Fabio.
Oopsie.
What disgusts me about this whole thing is not the use of Kevin Federline in a Super Bowl Ad but the National Restaurant Association' use of membership dollars (we are talking a bazillon here)to raise a stink about this. I am sure that 90% of the fast food workers wish they WERE in his shoes. Why not focus on employee benefits? Minimum wage? Food-related illness related to Mexican produce? I mean, don't they have something better to squawk about? Last year, obesity.....this year K-Fed?