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K-Fed Commercial Offends Restaurant Workers

Kevin Federline just can't win. In an upcoming Super Bowl commercial for Nationwide Insurance, he picks on the safest target imaginable: himself. And yet he's still managed to make a new enemy, this time with the National Restaurant Association, who are calling for the commercial to be cancelled before it hits the airwaves for Super Bowl Sunday.

In the ad, Federline performs as a successful rap star, and then is shown to be merely daydreaming of fame and fortune while working at a fast food restaurant.

"An ad such as this would be a strong and direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry," said National Restaurant Association chief executive Steven Anderson. He added that the commercial would "give the impression that working in a restaurant is demeaning and unpleasant." A fry cook daydreaming of rap stardom...what's next, a commercial that depicts an L.A. waiter who dreams about winning an Oscar?

Nationwide's Steven Schreibman, vice president of advertising and brand management, seemed surprised by the uproar. "We're not making fun of anybody, except maybe Kevin Federline," he said. The tag line for the ad is, "Life Comes At You Fast."

Federline reportedly has been firing off some criticism of his own, albeit to a more personal target. According to several media reports, K-Fed has been urging estranged wife Britney Spears to check into rehab, and, according to a source in Star magazine, is concerned that the couple's kids are "being raised by strangers" while Spears hits the town.

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
01.25.07