Why CBS,NBC Refuse to Let Waka Flocka Be Great…

During the 2014 American Music Awards, an ad for Pine Bros. cough drops appeared in rotation. The surprising part about it was that the commercial featured rapper and reality star, Waka Flocka Flame.

According to the NY Post’s Page Six, the Softish Throat Drops ad was the highlight of the evening. It aired on ABC and quickly became a trending topic on Twitter and Facebook. Despite being banned from CBS and NBC, the Pine Bros. ad helped Waka obtain over 7 million impressions on his Facebook account and the actual video was shared over 45,000 times.

The reason why the other big networks banned the ad was due to the weed references. In the commercial, Waka is seen sitting on a couch with a a stream of smoke being released in the air. He gives praise to the throat drops stating that, “Next time you need some throat relief — for whatever reason — get your Pine Brothers.”

Apparently, it was the “whatever reason” statement that left it open for CBS and NBC to ban the ad. But, was it enough to make the ban justifiable? NO!

“Whatever reason” could have meant anything. And just because smoke filled the room, doesn’t mean that “weed smoke” was the cause of it. It could have been cigarette smoke, incense smoke, steam from a humidifier, etc. It could have been anything! Plus, we’ve seen worse commercials on television. So, the ban doesn’t make sense.

Waka Flocka was a victim of discrimination. If it was anyone else – especially a white celebrity using the same smoke references – the commercial would not have been banned. If Martha Stewart did this commercial, it would not have been banned. In fact, she was scheduled to do the commercial for a cool $1 million.

Waka Flocka’s lack of mainstream star power was the culprit. Luckily, one network had the balls to air the ad regardless. So kudos to ABC, Pine Bros., and Brick Squad!