Some Like It Cut

The cross-dressing gag was good enough for Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. It even resonated lately with football fans in a Visa spot that shows pudgy, pig-nosed Washington Redskins fans in women’s dresses. But it’s apparently questionable for Terry Bradshaw, or at least for his claymation counterpart, in new promos from Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco, for the NFL on Fox program.

In one spot, the claymation versions of Bradshaw, Howie Long and James Brown are running from an angry Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Bears linebacker (because Bradshaw has “put Icy Hot in his jock”). Urlacher dives to catch them, but is left holding nothing but a tiny pink bra. “Bradshaw?” he asks.

Curiously, an alternate ending was developed that left out the implication that Bradshaw likes to don ladies’ underwear. According to one source, the G-rated ending was created specifically for the Midwest, where viewers are apparently a tad sensitive to that sort of thing. FCB didn’t confirm or deny this, but since other spots in the campaign show Bradshaw being grilled alive and eaten, Shoptalk wonders: How come cannibalism is OK but a little lingerie is out of bounds?

As for Bradshaw, he may want to keep Curtis’ memorable line to Lemmon in mind: “You’ve gotta keep telling yourself: You’re a boy!”