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Tiptoeing through 9/11 marketing

Posted at 1:52 PM on September 9, 2011 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising

Colleague Eric Ringham has turned in another 9/11-themed ad. This one appeared in this morning's Star Tribune. Curiously, the three area 9/11-themed promotions have involved either booze or food. There's been very little advertising locally that acknowledges 9/11 without trying to bring in a few more customers in the process.

"We've been saying to people, there's probably no right way to do this," said J. Walker Smith, executive chairman at the Futures Company consultancy, which is to release this month a report on public attitudes toward 9/11. He was quoted in a recent article in the New York Times on how advertisers are just now dipping a toe in the 9/11 advertising water. "If I were a marketer, I would let the moment pass," Mr. Smith said. "Anything you do could be seen as self-serving or disrespectful."

The worst 9/11-themed ad ever was this one in 2009 from the World Wildlife Fund-Brazil.

But what about an ad like this? It aired only once:

But there's also this: A New York winery selling 9/11 wine for $19.11.

Comments (10)

I love that Budweiser ad, I tear up every time I see it.

The music shift from the winds to the horns and the horses bowing their heads, all of it is put together so well. It's a well done, respectful ad that says so much without ever having a line of dialogue.

Posted by Matt B | September 9, 2011 2:32 PM

Budweiser: Big horses. Bad beer. Now Belgian-owned. But yes, a classy commercial.

Posted by Jim Shapiro | September 9, 2011 3:15 PM

I seem to recall it coming out that the world wildlife fund didn't actually put out that ad. Does anyone else remember that?

Posted by Melissa | September 9, 2011 5:50 PM

Melissa - here's the scoop behind the supposed WWF ad: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-02-rogue-9-11-ad-not-from-wwf-and-its-science-is-bogus

Posted by Jim Shapiro | September 9, 2011 6:22 PM

"All the carbon reductions and recycling in the world won't prevent tsunamis" according to Rogue 9/11 ad isn’t from WWF—and its science is bogus

Right, it won't.
But drilling for oil sure can aggrevate the earth's tectonics.

Jim, are you a good swimmer? : )

Posted by vivian | September 9, 2011 8:01 PM

Vivian - Let's say good floater.

Posted by Jim Shapiro | September 10, 2011 1:59 AM

1) I beg you all. PLEASE use html when posting links. The proper way to do so is just before the "name" box. just change TEXT to whatever you want the link to say.

2) The denial of the WWF that it had nothing to do with the ad -- as noted in the link above -- was corrected a day later when WWF announced it then appeared someone with WWF-Brazil approved the ad from DDB.

Its subsequent statement:

"WWF reiterates our strong condemnation and repudiation of this offensive and tasteless ad and reaffirms that no one in the US organization had any knowledge or any role in the ad's creation and expresses its regret for any pain it may have caused 9-11 victims and their families.
"Earlier this week, WWF-US issued a statement based on information provided by WWF Brazil, a separate and independent organization within the international WWF network, that the ad was created by an outside agency and was not authorized by anyone within their organization.
"WWF Brazil has subsequently issued statements that have raised doubts about whether the ad concept was approved at some level within the WWF Brazil organization.
"We have now re-launched a renewed inquiry into the circumstance surrounding the creation of the ad. Additionally, we are using every resource at our disposal to remove these images everywhere they exist online because they are hurtful and disrespectful to the victims of 9-11 and their families.
"We deeply regret that the information we provided, while given in good faith, may not have been completely accurate. We stand by our earlier statements that the ad was utterly inappropriate and should never have seen the light of day. They do not in any way reflect the thoughts and feelings of the people of World Wildlife Fund. Again, WWF-US strongly condemns this campaign and offers our sincere and heartfelt apologies."

Posted by Bob Collins | September 10, 2011 9:57 AM

Thanks for the follow-up!

Also, Bob, I think you may have meant to instruct people to replace "http://url" in the HTML code. There is no "text" in that string.

Posted by Melissa | September 10, 2011 8:39 PM

I saw the Bud commercial twice during football yesterday. So, it aired more than once.

Posted by Luke | September 12, 2011 8:10 AM

You know I wrote this on Friday, right?

Posted by Bob Collins | September 12, 2011 10:47 AM