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Jan 23, 2015
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Colonial Williamsburg Super Bowl ad shows World Trade Center falling, angers viewers
By Maura Judkis February 7 at 8:46 PM  

A Super Bowl ad promoting tourism in Colonial Williamsburg made a questionable choice in showing video of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.



The commercial, which aired in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, begins with reversed footage of achievements throughout American history: the first flight, the inauguration of President Obama, suffragettes, missions to space. A narrator calls upon us to “reflect upon our sacrifices, our breakthroughs, and yes, our heartbreaks.” On “heartbreaks,” footage of one of the twin towers is shown in reverse, with a fireball rebuilding itself into a complete building. “Where did our spirit first take shape?” asks the narrator, before the motto — “It started here. Colonial Williamsburg” — appears.

Obviously, the imagery has upset Super Bowl viewers who found the reminder of the tragedy distasteful.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/02/07/colonial-williamsburg-super-bowl-ad-shows-world-trade-center-falling-angers-viewers/
 
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RE: CW Super Bowl ad shows World Trade Center falling

Twitter is having a ball with this. Oh dear.
 
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RE: CW Super Bowl ad shows World Trade Center falling

What makes things even worse is that they just laid off a bunch of people.

http://parkfans.net/thread-4302.html
 
RE: CW Super Bowl ad shows World Trade Center falling

Excuse my Spanish, but America needs to grow some cojones. I am sorry, but this is one of those things that upsets me. Not the footage, the people who haven't gotten over the fact that a decade and a half ago, we were attacked. IT IS PART OF OUR HISTORY!
 
RE: CW Super Bowl ad shows World Trade Center falling

1. It is perfectly reasonoable for CW to talk about American History.
2. You can not talk about the modern ear without discussing 9/11. Other than World Wars I and II and the Cold War it has had a bigger impact on modern American history then any other singular event.3
3. The Super Bowl reaches a huge audience. Without knowing the actual market data there is no way to know if this kind of advertising will turn revenue. Any discussion without this hard data is meaningless.
4. While I may personally think that this was probably not the best bang for the buck, I applaud CW for trying something new. Gods know they need fresh blood.
5. There seems to be a knee jerk reaction to it being a Super Bowl ad. Given that it apparently showed only in certain regions it was not a national ad, it is reasonable to assume it was being shown in the local ad slots which are significantly cheaper then the national spots.
 
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OK while I did not have a problem with the add I am going to defend the criticism of it at least a little. One the markets it was shown in Where DC NYC and Philly. I am puzzled as to why someone thought usinget film of the attack was a good add idea especially in the two CITIES THAT WERE ATTACKED! Right or not many of us who lived through those attacks have almost a mild for of PTSD from them. I lived close to the Pentagon in 2001 and honest to god I can still remember the smoke cloud Like it was yesterday. While this may seem strange to those who only saw it on TV this was VERY real and personal to those of us who lived through it. And again while it didn't bug me personally I know friends that were extremely angered to see this even mildly used for commercial gain. I do think you would have seen a much different reaction if it were aired in other cities.
 
horsesboy said:
OK while I did not have a problem with the add I am going to defend the criticism of it at least a little.  One the markets it was shown in Where DC NYC and Philly.  I am puzzled as to why someone thought usinget film of the attack was a good add idea especially in the two CITIES THAT WERE ATTACKED! Right or not many of us who lived through those attacks have almost a mild for of PTSD from them.  I lived close to the Pentagon in 2001 and honest to good I can still remember the smoke cloud Luke it was yesterday.  While this may seem strange to those who only saw it on TV this was VERY real and personal to those of us who lived through it.  And again while it didn't bug me personally I know friends that were extremely angured to see this even mildly used for commercial gain.  I do think you would have seen a much different reaction if it were aired in other cities.

I agree completely, but would say there are many with much more than a mild case of ptsd. Ok NYC, there are thousands who were within blocks of the towers and their experience can't be reduced to a forum post. Not to mention all the families who, because of the breakdown in communication, didn't know for hours whether or not their loved ones were ok.
 
I'm going to provide an alternate perspective. I was actually supposed to be in a meeting in the section of the Pentagon that got hit that day, but skipped it by chance. I knew several people who barely made it out. I watched everything including the smoke and chaos from Crystal City.

Did it affect me deeply? Yes. And that is why I am offended when people ignore 911 or whitewash it or avoid the topic.

It is one that of the most significant events of the late 20th century. We are still at war because of 911. Our culture and lifestyle were changed radically. You simply cannot talk about US history without including an event of that magnitude.

Honestly, I see it's inclusion as showing respect to everyone who was affected. It is no different than remembering Pearl Harbor.
 
Nicole said:
I'm going to disagree, actually.  I was actually supposed to be in a meeting in the section of the Pentagon that got hit that day, but skipped it by chance.  I knew several people who barely made it out.  I watched everything including the smoke and chaos from Crystal City.

Did it affect me deeply?  Yes.  And that is why I am offended when people ignore 911 or whitewash it or avoid the topic.

It is one that of the most significant events of the late 20th century.  We are still at war because of 911.  Our culture and lifestyle were changed radically. You simply cannot talk about US history without including an event of that magnitude.

Honestly, I see it's inclusion as showing respect to everyone who was affected.  It is no different than remembering Pearl Harbor.
My personal views actually are much more in line with yours but everybody is effected by things differently. I would add that I have a friend who won't even turn on the TV on 911 cause she can't stand to see it again. Also I would point out that seeing it for people when they are not prepared is even harder for some. Personally while I tend to lean more toward your view I have to admit that when I watched the add for the first time I felt a very mild reaction to those few seconds. If it gave me a small jump for a split second imagine what it did to my friend when she saw it out of the blue.

So to sum it up do I think this was a bad add NO> Do I think that the 911 film should not have been there NO. But I do think that there was a bad call made to use it in an add airing only in DC NCY and Philly. I don't see it as a huge deel but it was a bad call in my opinion made by people who likely didn't have any idea it would cause that kind of reaction.
 
I thought I would share what CW said of Facebook and one reply to it that I think show both sides of this very well.

Colonial Williamsburg "We are aware that including scenes from the World Trade Center attacks is powerful and subject to debate. But American history is full of tragedies as well as triumphs. The whole of our experience makes us who we are today. That’s the story we need to tell, whether it is about slavery or an attack upon our homeland. The real story."
Like · Reply · 1,002 · 23 hrs

Abigail H. Price "Families who went through the tragedy don't need it shoved in their faces, backwards, as if it could be reversed. Clearly no one in your organization, who had approval power over the ad, lived in the NY/NJ area and saw the smoke, for days and days. It is not something that should ever be shown backwards and trivialized as an advertising stunt. You just have no idea of the effect this could have on the people who were geographically close to what happened."
Like · Reply · 37 · 23 hrs
 
Abigail H. Price said:
It is not something that should ever be shown backwards and trivialized as an advertising stunt.

I think this sums up my opinion closest. Showing video like that isn't offensive. Yes, it's traumatic for some and disturbing for most, but I don't think many people would call it offensive- even played backwards.

What I do think is sort of offensive is how the video was used. It was used as an emotional device to advertise a business. That really doesn't feel ok to me at all. Furthermore, the ad presents Colonial Williamsburg as the most important thing in the sequence. I doubt this was intended, but that is, at least in my mind, exactly how it comes off.

In my opinion CW needs to step back, acknowledge that they see why people are upset about the ad and assure everyone that it wasn't at all their intention to trivialize any part of American history- least of all 9/11. Standing by this ad like they've done nothing wrong is a bad decision.

PS: "It started here?" What happened to Jamestown...?
 
Username said:
Zachary said:
That would be the Roanoke Colony.

Nope Jamestown starved too.  It was the popular thing to do.
I think that he mentioned that Roanoke starved it's self our if existence while Jamestown survived leading to the Colony of Virginia and later the state.

Though on a side note Roanoke did not die off we have undisputable evidence that they did live for many years as part of a native tribe. Though there is much debate as to weather that was by choice or not.
 
horsesboy said:
Username said:
Zachary said:
That would be the Roanoke Colony.

Nope Jamestown starved too.  It was the popular thing to do.
I think that he mentioned that Roanoke starved it's self our if existence while Jamestown survived leading to the Colony of Virginia and later the state.  

Though on a side note Roanoke did not die off we have undisputable evidence that they did live for many years as part of a native tribe.  Though there is much debate as to weather that was by choice or not.

Not to start a history debate bbuuuuuuut technically we don't have solid proof as to WHAT happened at Roanoke. The joining a native tribe is the main theory but they haven't been able to find conclusive proof (actually visited the Roanoke colony museum last year).

Also Jamestown survived the starving years but only because a convenient ship happened to arrive right when they were about to book it. Neither story is particularly favorable for British colony survival.

Oh god, is this what I'm using my colonial history major for? Disputing facts on a theme park forum...
 
Unrelated, but this is why a colony on Mars is insane right now. In Virginia they had water and air they could breath.
 
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