When is a commercial not just a commercial?
When it is played in the middle of the Super Bowl and peripherally taps into one of the biggest debates going on in the United States today: Reproductive rights.
The ad? Australian filmmaker Peter Carstairs’ unlikely story of a Doritos-obsessed foetus.
Watch the ad here (post continues after video):
In a pool of around 4,500 entrants in a Doritos competition the 45-year-old Melburnian’s commercial was one of two to air during the iconic half time break, putting him in the running to win USD$1 million. (He didn’t win in the end.)
But it also put him directly in the firing line, with pro-choice and anti-abortion advocates facing off over whether the ad was pro-choice or anti-abortion.
It was a 30 second clip in which an-almost-full-term foetus propelled itself out of the womb for a corn chip.
Pro-choice advocates NARAL said it humanised foetuses.
While some people thought it had the opposite message.