A Tasteless 911 Tsunami Ad

DDB Brasil, a well-known Brazilian advertising agency, created an ad and a video for WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in Brazil. According to WWF, they never approved the ad but, DDB nonetheless entered both ads in the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June.

The video compares two major tragedies that have occurred in the last decade: 911, which took 2,819 lives, and the 2005 tsunami that claimed 280,000 lives. What follows in the video I will not say and let you see for yourself. That it is tasteless, offensive and insensitive is an understatement. To use the tragedy that happened on 911 - that was an act of extremists with the sole purpose of committing murder - as an example of lives lost that were far less in numbers than those tragedies that naturally unfold themselves through nature makes no sense. To assume one tragedy may be more important than the other simply because of numbers - whether 2,819 or 280,000 - is not the issue; the issue is that lives were lost. Period. Each life mattered. And to resurrect 911 and use it as an advertisement example shows such insensitivity it is quite unfathomable. The ad, at the end, states that "our planet is brutally powerful. Respect it." Yet, DDB failed terribly in showing proper respect for 911 and understanding that numbers in any tragedy, in the end, are insignificant to family members; they don't care about numbers, they care about having lost one of their own. Each.life.matters. To say that 2,819 or 280,000 were lost doesn't lessen their pain. And I say this with any tragedy. But I also think there is a vital difference between the two that DDB didn't quite think through. 911 was created by man, fed and fueled by the ideology and anger of man. The tsunami was the result of Mother Nature's sometimes uncontrollable, deadly trait. To compare 911 to a natural catastrophe is like comparing apples to oranges. It makes no sense. But what I find unconscionable is that they then show how many planes it would take to get similar numbers lost to that of the tsunami. What were they thinking? This was a terrible gamble by DDB, which is quite reputable in the industry, and I believe, in the end, they will pay for it dearly. At least, I hope they will.


You can read more about it here.