• 365Gay.com, Thursday, February 7, 2008 11 AM

For the second year in a row, some advertisers made plays for violence toward the gay community and stereotypes during the Super Bowl, paying a record $2.7 million per 30 seconds for the privilege. In one spot, for Bridgestone Americas, a man swerves on a dark road to avoid hitting a deer and rocker Alice Cooper but tries to hit -- and nearly misses -- flamboyant aerobics instructor Richard Simmons exercising in a rhinestone-adorned tank top.

It is the first time the tire company ran an ad during the Super Bowl, and just year after a spot for Snickers, where men violently beat each other due to an "accidental kiss" when sharing a candy bar. Bridgestone's ad was labeled homophobic by Ad Age's Bob Garfield and panned by AfterElton.com, but Bridgestone's openly gay advertising and Internet manager, Michael Fluck says, "The humor in this ad has nothing to do with sexuality. I don't know if [Simmons has] ever come out publicly or not, and he clearly knew the content of the spot."

He says Simmons was picked because "he's polarizing and over-the-top and that may be because of his sexuality." Bridgestone has advertised consistently in gay media since 2001 and Fluck notes the latest spot scored high on USA Today's Ad Meter.

Read the whole story at 365Gay.com »