PETA, the activist animal rights group has landed some attention and possibly a viral video hit with its  "banned" Super Bowl television spot featuring an attractive female model getting intimate with a pumpkin, asparagus, broccoli and an eggplant. But hey, not one darn beet!


Veggie Love has been rejected by NBC for the Super Bowl due to "a level of sexuality exceeding our standards," NBC wrote in their rejection letter.  No big surprise.  How do you spell publicity stunt?

Now, here at Beet.TV we love vegetables and animals (we even eat some) and we don't necessary endorse PETA's activities.  But this is a clever online marketing move.  Take note: after viewing the 30-second ad, a longer post roll video "call to action" about the organization's efforts is presented.  Beyond the sexy, highly produced videos, PETA does an outstanding job in presenting online video and getting its core message out.

I've embedded here the asparagus ad.  This was not even submitted to NBC, you can see why. 

Thanks to Chris Albrecht at NewTeeVee for the tip.  He just updated his post to note that there have been more a million streams of Veggie Love.

Meanwhile NBC Sports is doing well with selling advertising on the Super Bowl, reports Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age.

— Andy Plesser, Executive Producer