Sep 2, 2009 6:53 pm US/Eastern
Uproar Grows Over WWF 9/11-Inspired Ad
Though Ad Was Never Authorized, It Somehow Ended Up On The Internet, Causing Furor From Victims' Families
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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This advertisement has family members of 9/11 victims up in arms.
CBS
The World Wildlife Fund has condemned an unauthorized ad that is circulating on the Internet. It tastelessly refers to 9/11 and was rejected by an ad agency.
The ad shows dozens of planes all headed for lower Manhattan, with the World Wildlife Fund logo and the caption: "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11." The response from WWF came quickly.
"It's just insulting and appalling and we would never have ever considered using such images or such messaging in an ad campaign," said Leslie Aun of WWF.
The ad agency responsible was the Brazilian arm of DDB-Worldwide, which rejected it, and said: "The tsunami ad for World Wildlife Fund Brasil was created by a team at DDB Brasil in December 2008. The team in question is no longer with the agency. DDB Brasil apologizes to anyone who was offended or affected by the ad."
What brought the issue to light is that the ad recently won an award, even though it was never published.
A Manhattan-based group called The One Club named it the best public service print ad of 2009, but offered no comment.
"I'm shocked, disgusted, unbelievable," said Jim Riches, the father of a 9/11 victim.
Riches, a former FDNY deputy chief, worked at ground zero and lost his son on 9/11, Firefighter James Riches.
"I think it's warped, and really hurts the families, 9/11 parents and children," Riches said.
Al Santora, a volunteer guide at the World Trade Center site, who lost his son, Firefighter Christopher Santora, said the damage is done.
"Putting it on the Internet, it's like putting it on Channel 2 News, all over the world, instantly," Santora said.
The families said even without the ad being published, the thought behind the ad is reprehensible.
The World Wildlife Fund said it is aggressively trying to have it the image removed from Web sites.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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