Fox has turned down a Super Bowl television ad from comedy site JesusHatesObama.com, according to the site’s creator, L.A.-based comedian Richard Belfry.
The thirty-second commercial ad, set to “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” depicts two adjacent bobblehead figures, one being President Barack Obama and the other a pouting Jesus. The Obama doll excessively shakes his head until he finally topples into a fishbowl, putting a smile on Jesus’ face and implying that Christ was the one to send him into the water.
Ruth Levenson, Fox’s vice president for broadcast standards and practices, said the ad is “not acceptable to air on Fox,” but Belfry claims the video is meant to be taken in jest.
“[Fox doesn’t] realize it’s a joke,” Belfry told the New York Daily News.
“Do we really believe that Jesus hates Obama? Of course not,” the website’s mission statement says. “However, we do believe in freedom… as in the freedom to make fun of the Obama administration with novelty t-shirts… Our products may be a joke, but so are the policies of this administration.”
Belfry said the ad sold for $2.3 million. He added that the money would have come from $3 million he previously got from private investors.
JesusHatesObama.com has reportedly sold 70,000 t-shirts since the company’s launch in 2009. The site tried to appeal Fox’s rejection without any luck.
[WATCH: Jesus Hates Obama commercial]