Kevin Federline's new ad which will run during the Superbowl has absolutely infuriated the fast food industry, which claims that the ad makes fun of people who flip burgers for a living.
A restaurant trade organization has expressed "serious concerns" about an upcoming Super Bowl ad featuring Britney Spears' estranged spouse going from the recording booth to the fast-food counter.
The 30-second ad for Nationwide insurance is scheduled to air during the third quarter of Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4.
In a letter to Nationwide, Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association, charged that the ad "give[s] the impression that working in a restaurant is a demeaning and unpleasant," and stands as a "direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry."
Nothing personal against Mr. "Popozao," mind you.
"It's not about Kevin Federline," Chrissy Shott, spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, said Wednesday. "...It's about the ad."
Though the association hasn't seen the as-yet unaired ad, it believes, based on reports, that its depiction of Federline joining the fast-food employment ranks is something less than inspirational.
"It gives the impression that it's demeaning," Shott said.
The Anderson letter, dated Monday, expresses the hope that Nationwide won't air the ad, and warns if the company does it'll alert its members--"many of whom are customers of Nationwide."
According to Nationwide, the restaurant group can't see the Happy Meal for the fries.
"The intent of the ad isn't to offend or insult the many fine individuals who work in the restaurant industry," Nationwide spokesman Eric Hardgrove said in a statement to Reuters. "The focus of the ad is the element of surprise, not the setting of a fast-food restaurant."
The ad is part of Nationwide's "Life Comes at You Fast" campaign.
Life certainly came at K-Fed fast. One minute he's Mr. Britney Spears living in a Malibu mansion and partying in Vegas every weekend and the next minute he's broke. Although he might have a promising future in the fast food service industry if he apologizes profusely for making the ad.
