Pro-life ad nixed from Super Bowl …

… But the Eternal Word Television Network is going to air it. The pro-life ad that aired in Chicago on Inauguration Day set its sights on a bigger audience — the coveted ad time during the Super Bowl — but it was rejected by NBC. However, on Jan. 30 EWTN announced it would air the commercial during “Faith Bowl II.”

The ad, mentioned last week in the CNS blog,  is sponsored by the group CatholicVote.org, under the umbrella of the Fidelis Center for Law and Policy.  The ad, the first in the group’s new campaign, displays an ultrasound of a baby and text which refers to a child who will be abandoned by his father and raised by a single mother but will become the first African-American president. Then it shows an image of President Obama along with the words: “Life: Imagine the Potential.”

After the Internet spot gained 700,000 hits in a week and plenty of discussion, along with financial contributions, it was submitted for consideration to NBC — the network providing coverage of this Sunday’s game.

But after several days of negotiations, an NBC representative told CatholicVote.org today that NBC and the NFL were not interested in advertisements involving “political advocacy or issues.”

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, said this decision contradicts what NBC officials told the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, which also wanted to run an ad in a Super Bowl slot. PETA’s ad was rejected for its sexual suggestiveness and the group was advised to edit it before it could run.

“NBC claims it doesn’t allow advocacy ads, but that’s not true,” Burch said in a statement. “They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness. Our ad is far less provocative, and hardly controversial by comparison,” he added.

Burch plans to find another home for the ad in upcoming weeks.

Stay tuned.