The greatest spectacle of Super Bowl XLVIII won’t be on the field—it’ll be during the commercial breaks. In today’s fractured media environment, Super Bowl ads are the greatest opportunity companies have to put their brand in front of a massive audience. Sometimes these much-watched commercials can spark conversation for all the wrong reasons, though. Here, TIME looks back at the most controversial Super Bowl ads ever, some of which were deemed so inappropriate they never made it to air.Top 10 Most Controversial Super Bowl Ads:
Also See: Top 10 Trending SuperBowl Commercials
1. PETA
If the animal rights activists at PETA can’t convince you to stop eating meat through pamphlets or statistics, they will use half-naked women. This NSFW commercial features scantily clad models preparing to engage in unprintable acts with pumpkins, broccoli stalks and asparagus. “Vegetarians have better sex,” the ad boldly proclaims, citing unspecified “studies.” Unsurprisingly, NBC passed on the chance to run this ad in 2009.
2. Tim Tebow on Abortion
Former football star Tim Tebow raised eyebrows with this 2010 ad for Focus on the Family, an anti-abortion nonprofit organization. In the commercial Tebow’s mother calls the quarterback her “miracle baby,” alluding to the fact that she was advised by doctors to abort her pregnancy for health reasons but chose not to. The commercial was surprising mainly because broadcasters often avoid politically polarizing ads during the Super Bowl, and it sparked outrage from some women’s rights advocates.
3. eCard
“How many dumb gender stereotypes can we cram iton 30 seconds?” That must have been the goal of this rejected 2010 ad from eCard company Fantasy Video Greetings. A bored husband tries to watch football while his nagging wife complains about domestic issues and continually sweeps the same tiny spot on the floor. With a zap of the remote, Joe Dudebro transforms his wife into a buxom brunette who only wants to bring him beer and make out with her hot girlfriends in front of him. With an ad this stupid, it’s no surprise that this company no longer seems to exist.
4. GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s aim is to be controversial. They sell domain names and web hosting, but you’d hardly know it from their commercials, which generally centers around beautiful women making out in various states of undress. The company has been accused of sexism, but their controversial ads (like the ones above from the last few years’ Super Bowl) have drastically increased their brand awareness and their sales. This year, though, the company’s trying a different tactic. The 2014 Super Bowl spot features a bunch of muscle-bound men and Danica Patrick ambushing a spray tan salon.
5. Pornhub
A commercial featuring a pleasant elderly couple sitting on a park bench might not seem scandalous, until you realize it’s an ad for one of the world’s largest pornographic websites. This 20-second spot is quite innocent, but CBS still refused to air the commercial, noting that running pornographic ads is against their corporate policy. Pornhub likely knew this ad would never make the Super Bowl, but the site got lots of free attention thanks to the stunt.
6. Ashlee Madison
A dating website to help married people have affairs is already pushing the limits of decency. But Ashley Madison went too far with this 30-second spot featuring porn star Savanna Samson, at least according to Fox, which refused to air the ad in 2011. The weirdest thing about this ad, though are the animals. Why is there a giant bunny in an office conference room?
7. Snickers
In this 2007 Snickers add two mechanics — ultimate manly men share a Snickers bar, and end up with their mouths touching. “Sexist” was the verdict and we snickers pulled the add immediately.
8. Doritos
This demeaning Doritos ad, which didn’t make it to 2009’s Super Bowl, show a man watching a game and ignoring his girlfriend as she calls to him. She can only successfully gain his attention during match time by taping bags of Doritos to the triangles of her bikini top — so he can, um, eat Doritos from her breasts?
9. Budweiser
Men, are your women giving you trouble? Well, now you can make it all better without bothering, thanks to the Apology-Bot 3000, the nifty little innovation brought to you in this Budweiser ad. The gadget will apologize for your wayward habits, like selling your homemade sex videos to XXX enterprises and spending the money on lap dances at the strip club. To soften the blow, the A-B 3000 will even give your girl a cool Bud Light, because some women drink beer, too. Suffice to say, this ad never saw Super Bowl Day, either.
10. Charlotte McKinney Carl’s Jr. Burgers
Now if there was ever a reason to call a burger advert for Carl’s Jr.’s food porn, this is probably the best time to pull that card! The “next big thing” model Charlotte McKinney (Her Instagram account is a MUST SEE) will have you craving Carl’s Jr.’s All-Natural Burger once you’ve managed to pull yourself away from the screen to watch the clip for the 20th time. The 22-year-old blonde Guess model appears to be in her birthday suit as she suggestively read her lines, ‘I love going all-natural. It just makes me feel better.’ Hailed as the new Kate Upton we expect Carl’s Jr. to have a very successful campaign with McKinney as the new face of their All-Natural Burgers.
