The National Religious Broadcasters has announced it will present its award for Best Television Commercial to Focus on the Family for last year’s Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam.
The ad, it turns out, helped save at least one life.
“It created a national dialogue about the true definition of choice as it pertains to the issue of abortion,” the group said.
The award will be presented in late February.
The Barna Group estimated that more than 5 million people reconsidered their position on the issue of abortion after viewing the ad, and at least one woman contacted Focus on the Family to tell them she decided not to abort her child because of the commercial.
In the ad, Pam Tebow conveyed the story of how she chose, against doctors’ recommendations, to continue her pregnancy after contracting a serious illness. The baby was born healthy and went on to become a college football star, win a Heisman trophy and play in the National Football League.
A young woman named Susan sent an e-mail to Focus on the Family, telling how the commercial had changed her life.
“I need to thank you so much. It’s not like me to reach out to strangers or agencies for help. I was truly feeling lost. I saw the ad during the Super Bowl and it stuck in my head,” Susan wrote. “I feel like that commercial was made to reach out to me.”
Susan watched the ad repeatedly online that week and then went to the Focus on the Family website to watch the related interview.
“I think I was partly afraid that God was mad at me for getting pregnant out of wedlock,” she wrote. “While I know He isn’t proud of me for it, thank you for reminding me that He still loves me. I didn’t need to compound one sin with another. My mistake can’t be erased, but I can ask for forgiveness.”
The baby’s father wanted Susan to abort it, and she knew the relational and financial struggles would be significant if she chose life. But the ad and follow-up support from a Focus on the Family employee helped her continue the pregnancy.
“I cannot thank you enough for putting me back on the right track and reminding me what actually matters in life,” Susan wrote. “I don’t know how I forgot something so important, but I did.”
After the baby’s birth last fall, Susan visited the Focus on the Family headquarters with the child to show them the difference the commercial made. (BP)
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