Rejected 9/11 WWF Ad Is Shockingly Disturbing, Beyond Tasteless

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by Michael dEstries September 3, 2009
Categories: Internet, Video.

wwf

Before we talk more about what you’re seeing above, understand one thing: The World Wildlife Fund did not commission this ad. (Update: This is now unclear.) It was brought to them by a South African South American firm called DDB that was attempting to land an account with the animal non-profit. The picture, which shows many planes about to strike the heart of Manhattan carries the tagline: “The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.”

According to the National Enquirer, after the ad was outed by the site AdFreak.com, WWF immediately issued a quick denial of purpose. Calling the ad “offensive and tasteless” The World Wildlife Fund claimed it didn’t authorize the ad. “SUMMARILY REJECTED” was what WWF told the creative team behind the print terror concept. For their part, the ad agency DDB says the people who submitted this piece of garbage are no longer with the firm.

Unfortunately, a video version of the ad was recently released — and it’s even more shocking than the above. See it after the fold below.


Categories: Internet, Video.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • http://www.mommybrainreports.com Monica

    OMG are they nuts??? They actually thought that would be approved? That’s beyond horrific and tasteless. Seriously. I can’t believe that was even created. Not to mention an absolutely wonderful (note sarcasm) time to release this stuff… UGH.

  • Katherine

    I think I need to throw up now. x.x

  • septemous

    Kind of brutal – and a bit tasteless and will never fly in our PCverse.

    I’m sitting in my Manhatten apt where I watched the towers fall- and to me the ad gets the message across that we are doing this to ourselves.

    And it is quite brutal.

    I would have liked to have seen some footage of the tsunami thrown in. That is something that is very distant to the mind.

    Or this could be the preview for a great action movie!

  • Jeff

    I’m a mathematician, but even I find that argument repulsive. You can’t measure tragedy on numbers alone. Just another example of what sick minds exist out there. What a complete disrespect for the people of NY and the USA.

  • Ariel

    If you lived in Manhattan, you would know that it is not spelled Manhatten.

  • s

    *barf*

  • Joe

    Definitely over the top. But you know what? It got your attention. And I’m tired of walking on eggshells trying to get across to people how important it is that we take environmental concerns seriously. This ad would definitely do more harm than good. But the truth is, if we don’t get our shit straight when it comes to the environment, the results WILL be catastrophic.

  • http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin

    lol good point Ariel! (I think Sept is not telling the truth ;)

    Joe, I gotta agree with you. It DID get our attention. WWF (the pro hunting group I can’t stand anyway) We’re all so insulted by it but I see TONS more people (than 9/11) dying here in the US because of environmental disasters…. Time to WAKE UP people.

    Joe is right.

    E

  • http://vegreg.wordpress.com/ Gina

    Aaaaaarggh…mixed feelings. Attention grabbing and thought provoking yes, but I think it would piss more people off than it would convince to take environmental concerns more seriously.

  • don miguelo

    Marketing cares not for feelings, just for attention. Attention equals Money.

    What’s with all the info corrections up there And is the National Enquirer actually cited up there? (There’s another tragedy).

    Tasteless. Not going to win over any Americans I’m pretty sure to their cause.

  • alex

    I think it’s brilliant. Makes an extraordinary point.

  • don miguelo

    I disagree that this is brilliant, Alex.

    Most people (you know the masses this is trying to reach) will never see past their feelings to get the point it’s trying to make. And they shouldn’t. Those feelings are there and justified, sacred. This advertisement is over the line (and not in a good way). WWF realized the backlash and apologized.

    Is the Tsunami more important than 9/11? Was the Tsunami a terrorist attack? No. The ends do not justify the means with this. I’m sure Rupert Murdoch would disagree with me, but that doesn’t make it right.

    People should respect the planet’s power but this is an alienating way to do it and worse– will turn more people away than change their paradigm. That’s my 2 cents.

  • http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FD18926170ED901&search_query=earthlings Whoever…

    First let me just say I’m not a WWF supporter.

    Then I must add that I think this ad is bluntly brilliant (in my point of view obviously).

    Before most of you start crucifying me, let me just explain why I feel this way…

    Everyone agrees that 9/11 was a tragedy and no matter what were the reasons behind the attack (or the inside job for some – mostly Americans), it was plain wrong and evil.

    With that said, I’d like to ask you if the consequences of Katrina, for instance, weren’t far worse.
    I do know that 9/11 wasn’t a natural catastrophe but the ad is just pointing out that if we don’t respect Nature, natural catastrophes will happen very frequently and they will be much worse than 9/11.

    Is it shocking that images of 9/11 were used in this ad? Yes? Was it meant to be shocking? Yes! And as we’ve seen with ‘The Cove’, shocking people actually works. This ad isn’t attacking or insulting anyone in particular – it only wants to alert people to the consequences of the destruction of the planet.

    What do you want NGO’s to do? Go to people and ask them politely to go vegan or to respect the environment? That just doesn’t work!
    If it did, this planet would be a paradise by now!

    Come on, let’s stop being so naive.

    What intrigues me is that apparently ‘no one’ (among the general public) is shocked with the fact that:
    - oil companies make huge profits with the destruction of the planet or that they crush (including murder – Shell/Nigeria) all local opposition to their drilling in poor countries;
    - the US military forces are the biggest oil consumer in the world;
    - they illegally invade innocent countries not to fight for democracy but to serve the interests of corporations or individuals such as bush, cheney and the likes of them;
    - thousands (probably) of Tibetans have been murdered by the chinese and the US shuts the f*** up because china owns your ass (with all due respect);
    - the US is the main responsible for embargoes on countries like Cuba or North Korea, thus asphyxiating not their regimes but their people…
    and so on…

    Why doesn’t that shock people?

    Don’t get me wrong – I’ve always wanted to go to NY (I think it’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world) and when those planes hit the twin towers and I realized it was an alleged (again, I have read and watched things about the possibility that it was an inside job and it made some sense – therefore I’m not sure, sorry!) terrorist attack, I felt an enormous hatred towards whoever had done it; however, this is being used not to promote a product or to insult someone, but instead to alert people to the fact that we’re destroying the planet and that it can have devastating consequences to all of us that are so much worse than 9/11.

    And so I really don’t see why all the fuss about this ad.

    For a society that, in a healthy way, has the capability of laughing at itself (one good example is the Simpsons), sometimes you are too sensitive regarding other issues… I truly don’t get it!

    It’s like the fact – and this has nothing to do with this post – that drugs (which only kill those who use them) are not allowed in the US but anyone can buy a ‘powerful’ gun (which can kill many innocent people) without much difficulty…
    So many paradoxes… this is not a criticism, it’s just me thinking out loud :)

  • Amanda Sutherland

    I think this is a great advert. Unfortunately it appears that nothing in this world, according to the US, is worse than September 11. This points out with visual simplicity that there are worse things.

  • liz

    i think that the ad is brilliant. maybe a bit shocking and tasteless, but it grabs your attention and makes you think about what the real problem is in the world.

  • http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin raw foods

    Couldn’t it also be not just that we respect nature? but that we be better prepared? (many say we weren’t prepared for 9/11- the government agencies failed to communicate and that allowed it to happen.

    COuldn’t the same be true of Katrina? The govt agencies didn’t communicate and it allowed SO many people to be displaced, STILL living in trailers all these years later… the govt failed us (Just like they did in 9/11) and we weren’t prepared…

    Just another message I got from it.. ;)

    E

  • VeggieTart

    The problem is, you can’t compare the two. 9/11 was a terrorist attack, planned by humans. The tsunami was caused by an underwater earthquake, and I don’t see how what we’re doing to the planet affects that. Were the effects as bad because of how the tsunami struck land? Was it that there were no warning systems to get people out of the way? The only reason this firm uses 9/11 is it still evokes a reaction from people, and it’s way past time to stop exploiting what happened one day in September 2001 to make a point.

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  • Pffffff

    Love it !!! It is maybe shocking (not for me – I wasn’t American that day), but it is so true. 3000 Americans killed ? How many people killed in real genocides like the one in Rwanda? How many people dying from hunger all over the world?

  • Martin

    Not only a disrespect to NY and USA but Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zeland, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Poland, Romaina, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Republic of China, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, United Kingdom and Venezuela.

    Please remember it may have happened on American soil but it claimed lives globally, we lost friends, family and workmates in the tradgedy too, i knew 7 of the 67 British lost but i mourned for all lost.

  • Rich

    This is not offensive to me. (And I DO live in NY, and I DID lose a good friend in the tragedy.) It’s incredibly powerful. How is this different than showing many mushroom clouds or many wars, or many weapons of any kind?

    (And I am NOT disregarding those lost on 9/11. I’m thinking exactly the opposite. Many were lost in all the other examples I’m thinking about, too. Why is 9/11 more sacred–or other events less so? And what if we can do some good by using something so sensitive as an allegory?)

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