NASCAR Super Bowl Commerical Outrage: Gluten-Free Community Upset By Nick Offerman's Comments [VIDEO]

Tags: Nascar

NASCAR's Super Bowl commercial featuring Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman didn't sit well with everyone.

The ad shows Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson on the popular NBC sitcom, rejecting all that is "weak" in the country while guzzling bear, standing in front of the American flag, riding a bull and being a fan of NASCAR.

One of the things Offerman took a shot at in the ad is gluten, which led to outrage from some viewers.

"When our idea of danger is eating gluten, there's trouble afoot," Offerman says in the commercial, which played during the New England Patriots eventual 28-24 Super Bowl XLIX victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

According to The Charlotte Observer, a user named Gluten Dude created a petition against the ad on Change.org in defense of Celiac disease awareness. As of Tuesday, the petition had over 18,300 signatures.

Though Offerman and NASCAR didn't mention the disease in the ad, the creator of the petition was upset over the attack of people who are gluten-free and not by choice.

The anonymous Gluten Dude is hopeful to have the ad removed for its insensitivity.

"NBC is running a Super Bowl ad that makes fun of those who are gluten-free. It implies that we're soft...we're weak...we're part of America's problem," the petition reads, according to Adweek.

The gluten comment by Offerman actually didn't air on the original ad, as it is on the longer two-minute commercial that can only be found online along and an NBC spokesperson told the publication that it can be watched "at the viewer's discretion."

The spokesperson also said that the reactions to the ad were "overwhelmingly positive, but we understand that it is hard to please everyone and apologize to anyone who took offense."

While he may have caused some controversy with this ad, Offerman can be seen reprising his role of Swanson in the final season of Parks and Recreation Tuesday nights on NBC.

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