Whitney Thompson Super Bowl Commercial Rejected Because Of Anti-Plus Size Bias? (VIDEO)

Last month Whitney Thompson, winner of "America's Next Top Model" Cycle 10, jumped back onto our radar with a new project: a plus-sized dating website called The Big and the Beautiful.

Whitney, who herself falls into the broad category of "plus-size model," created the site based on her own struggles with dating. Now it seems she's struggling to promote the site to others. Ad Age reports that a proposed Super Bowl commercial for The Big and the Beautiful has been rejected by NBC.

Said the site's reps via a press release:

The ad is for TheBigAndTheBeautiful.com -- a dating site for plus-sized men and women that was founded by Thompson. NBC Universal's rejection email said: "Unfortunately it needs to be completely reworked for our air. S&P [Standards and Practices] wouldn't approve it."

Did NBC reject the ad because of an anti-plus size bias? Thompson thinks so, according to the press release: "She believes they rejected the commercial because it features bigger women and not the skinnier accepted norm."

Take a look at the ad below. We are all for fighting for positive representations of female bodies in the media, but we can't say that The Big and the Beautiful spot actually shows that many plus-size women. Instead, there's a butt shot of a petite blonde girl and a lot of rich-looking men prowling the Internet for sex with inexperienced women.

How that works to improve perceptions of plus-size women, we're not too sure.

We've reached out to NBC for an explanation of why the ad was rejected but are still waiting to hear back. In the meantime, check out the commercial for yourself. Any ideas as to why it wasn't deemed acceptable for the Super Bowl?

UPDATE: We spoke to a representative from NBC Sports, who clarified that the spot was not actually rejected. The Big and the Beautiful did submit an initial inquiry but never filed a formal "order to buy" and therefore could not have its ad formally considered.

WATCH:

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Comments

[Jenna Brennan]

12:40 PM on 04/20/2012

Even if it HAD submitted a formal order, I doubt it would have been picked up. It was TERRIBLE.

[theworldofmarla]

03:57 AM on 01/24/2012

Big $$$ 2 air Superbowl ad or get one banned for free press? No-brainer!

[listgirl3]

03:55 PM on 01/23/2012

Honestly, I highly doubt it was banned for "poor taste". Why? - Ashley Madison, friends....Ashley Madison ;) I'm pretty sure dating doesn't get anymore distasteful than that...lol

[petconsults]

08:55 AM on 01/26/2012

If you can even call Ashley Madison "dating".

[Mindy Czech]

12:51 AM on 01/23/2012

Demeaning and ridiculous ad from a no-nothing and untalented idiot. She has stated time and time again how she is a real woman because of her size, as though someone that is a size 3/4 and extra-small to small like me are fake women. It's really quite pathetic, and I really hated the dig in the commercial about how skinny women are the skanky ones that sleep around more.

[Jenna Brennan]

12:41 PM on 04/20/2012

There is no way she's a size 4. More like a 10-12. That doesn't make her a "real woman" though. We're all real women. It's a ridiculous thing to say, size does not dictate who and what we are.

[Mrsbean54]

12:30 PM on 01/22/2012

Actually, it was probably rejected because it features poorly-acted scenes about cheating on your partner and sexually assaulting women in the elevator.

[OMGWTH]

10:54 AM on 01/22/2012

It was just a bad commercial, period. Try the same message in something much better produced, and see how you fare.

[wms425s]

10:26 AM on 01/22/2012

It was the butt in the red thong. No brainer...

[therealjezzie]

09:21 AM on 01/22/2012

I think she's a pretty brilliant marketer. She made a cheesy commercial that isn't ready for prime time. She had no intention of spending the money to air it. Instead she kicked up a fuss at the right time & we're all watching & making a much bigger deal of something we'd have blinked & missed if she'd spent the millions on the airtime.
Tons of free advertising - she got way more out of this than if the commercial aired. Very smart girl.

[RoughCollie]

12:25 AM on 01/22/2012

Why was it rejected??? Did you watch it? It's so terrible they should be embarrassed! They should hire some of those amateurs who competed in the Doritos commercials or the amateur who did the Chevy commercial..now those guys know how to make good commercials!

[Captain Ron]

11:12 PM on 01/21/2012

Real men prefer a woman who looks like a woman. But this commercial was rejected for being stupid.

[Kambriel2]

10:28 PM on 01/21/2012

I thought it was funny.

[booker52]

06:16 PM on 01/21/2012

My guess is it got banned for the almost bare rear end.

[austin in tx]

05:44 PM on 01/21/2012

I like I like. lol

[Red45]

03:34 PM on 01/21/2012

I think it was rejected because it's just plain stupid.

[lpoetry72]

02:22 PM on 01/21/2012

wow! Its was a cheap and poorly executed commercial...no wonder it was rejected! Dont use plus-size as a crutch. Re-do it with a quality director, storyline, editor and better ACTORS and it might not suck so much! It looks like something a really bad first year film student might submit...It was like watching those bad porn actors...without the porn!