Yesterday, United was forced to apologize for reactivating the two flight numbers that were involved in the September 11th attacks. Unfortunately, that is one of two major 9/11 mistakes that United was cought in this week. However, for this new controversey, a picture provides the best descripton.
Yes, that is a United ad right accross the street from Ground Zero. Add in the phrasing of the ad, and you can understand the controversey. The company that actually placed the ad (it is not United itself, as there are companies place the ads for advertisers at MTA stations) has already been ordered to move the ad.
Now, I think the ad itself is fairly nice. The issue is a vague description about customers liking where a flight is going to land will not go over well outside of Ground Zero. Add in the fact that this is for the airline which had one of the planes used in the horrific attacks and you have a full blown controversey.
While I do understand the outrage of these incidents, I try to look at the positives. While both the flight numbers and the ad can be seen as insensitive, they are simply the actions of people who are not thinking about 9/11. The fact that people have been able to move on is a wonderful thing, as it helps to defeat one of the primary purposes of terrorism. Terrorism is designed to strike fear and cause people to be paralyzed from action by that fear. I am glad that United and the MTA are doing the right thing by moving this ad, but I am also glad that 9/11 is not at the top of everyone's mind as they go about and do their job. It may lead to incidents such as this week, but it also shows that we shall overcome.
Comments
Epic Fail
Wow. That's like the TK ad on the down escalator...
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