Remembering 9/11: Does this World Wildlife Fund ad go too far? (Update)

By DDB Brazil: The copy reads: "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it."

Is this totally tasteless or is it just me? I understand that they're trying to get a point across but isn't exploiting a tragedy like 9/11 taking things a little too far?

Via Advertolog

Update from AdAge:
'If you've been reading any of the ad blogs today, you may have seen a WWF ad featuring multiple planes flying toward a downtown Manhattan in which the World Trade Center still exists.

WWF, however, didn't commission the ad.

Indeed, it "strongly condemned" the ad in a press release. It's an unauthorized concept created by an agency seeking the group's business in Brazil. According to Advertolog, the ad was created by DDB Brasil. "

Tags: advertisement, wildlife, world

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charles on September 1, 2009 at 11:18am: bad taste; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sulivan Davis on September 1, 2009 at 12:53pm: It's memorable, but does the world wildlife fund want to alienate people with this? are they trying to scare us?

perhaps they're threatening us :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alessandra on September 1, 2009 at 1:15pm: I lived abroad for 6 years, 2 of them spent in the US. I believe it's hard for those that don't travel as much and are not familiar with the American patriotism to understand the impact and the void left after the attacks. There's truth in the message,but there are other ways to expose it. I think it's extremely poor taste to bring 9/11 up .; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rachel Anne on September 1, 2009 at 4:37pm: This is terrible.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kevin on September 2, 2009 at 12:22am: It's not a real ad. Just a mockup done by a company trying to get their business. WWF got a lot of undue bad publicity today.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by alice on September 2, 2009 at 11:35am: thanks for the update.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by stephanie on September 2, 2009 at 1:55am: Remembering that we don't live in candy world and that humans are not always good.that is disturbing!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Derek on September 2, 2009 at 3:15am: It may be bad taste, but the message is clear and respectable.

How would advertisements ever get your attention if they didn't hit a soft spot of some kind?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gofaster on September 2, 2009 at 10:38am: Disgusting. Perhaps we could put 70 million dead bodies on a beach with the tag line "Hitler caused the deaths of 250 times more people than the tsunami."; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sAm on September 2, 2009 at 10:46am: Bad taste, it's amazing how insensitive people can be.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by stephanie on September 2, 2009 at 11:22am: I wouldn't be so radical, it's because people are insensitive that advertisers have to creat such ad ! to make them react; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Aubree on September 2, 2009 at 11:28am: I literally gasped when I saw this... wow... I think we can assume that DDB Brazil did NOT get WWF's business with this!; ▶ Reply to This