QED. I've always believed advertising awards are bunk. How do you put stock in an award conferred upon someone by a panel judges made up in part of his own colleagues? Moreover, these awards are never (or rather hardly ever) based on any kind of result stat but rather on creativity applied to a project that will never see the light of day as actual advertising or marketing.

Thanks for this article. As I said in the beginning, QED.

I live in NYC. Close friends were nearly killed that day. Others I know did lose loved ones. I personally few to Boston that morning. I am offended and disturbed by this ad. Normally, I would insert a comment about how I wish the DDB guys would get killed by terrorists, or move their offices to the top of the freedom tower (if it ever gets built) but I am so far above that now. I honestly wish them luck, because with ideas that bad, and the negativity they are showing, they will be out of business soon. Good.

I completely agree that advertising is too often judged on "creativity," shock value and wit, and not enough on how it generates business. The awards are usually all wrong.

But ... be careful in how you interpret ads from other cultures, with only your local lens. You neglect to mention in your critique of the Israeli ad that the it is the young Israeli conscripts on the filmed side of the wall, not only the Palestinians on the other side, who are under stress and find relief in the spontaneous football match. Viewers will see the characters in the ad as young people charged with stopping terrorist infiltration - not exactly what most 20-years wake up in the morning asking to do. The product, Cellcom cellphones, is there to bring the players together - it's actually quite a good ad, and many people on both sides of the wall would probably find themselves smiling as they watched it. You probably have only seen the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on CNN, but in real life many Israelis and Palestinians actually talk to each other, do business together, and, believe it or not, occasionally play together. Don't judge other cultures based on your own experience.

@Steve--I understand your point, but you've completely missed the big picture. The problem with the Cellcom ad---which one Israeli has said "breaks some records in bad taste"--is that it's all fine and dandy from an Israeli POV. Namely, the POV you're advocating. But you'd be hard pressed to say that it takes the Palestinian plight very seriously at all---They're not even faces in the ad, just a notion, whose aim is simply good times. As one commenter wrote, "“This one minute ad says a lot about how mainstream Israel likes to see itself and the Palestinians." Namely, it's a fairy tale meant to sooth any unease over a policy that's actually a boiling controversy. The "smiling" you refer to is that same smiling that you see in ads claiming that sugar water can cure racism, for example. What makes that a "good ad"?

I agree with Steve Yastrow's points about placing our own experiences onto other cultures. I think we're a very ethnocentric society, and we automatically jump to assume the Palestinians on the other side are the mirror image of the Israelis we see.

What if it's a group of children playing on the other side of the wall? Sure, it's unlikely but why do we automatically assume the ad is making a mockery of the Palestinian plight? It's a moment of entertainment, which is something both sides desperately need.

To address Cliff Kuang's question, "What makes a 'good ad'?"; obviously a good ad is one that sells the product. Advertising is supposed to sell products and generate revenue for the client. It's not intended to change the world, teach it to sing, or cure its political ails.

Wow! This is definitely a think piece. My heart goes out to the family and friends direct affected by the 9/11 disaster... It also goes out to those affected by the tsunami... as well as the family and friends of American servicepersons and Iraqis who have lost family members during the Iraqi war...

If this sort of advertising is offensive... how do we awaken the masses from their slumber... It seems like we are stuck in our own little worlds and don't take responsibility for the crap we pushing off to the generations that come after to us...

Hi!
My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.

Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.

We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.

We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.

Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).

The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.

Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. CHECK!!

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Hi!
My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.

Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.

We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.

We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.

Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).

The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.

Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. CHECK!!

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Hi!
My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.

Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.

We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.

We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.

Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).

The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.

Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. CHECK!!

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Hi!
My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.

Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.

We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.

We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.

Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).

The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.

Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. CHECK!!

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Hi!
My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.

Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.

We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.

We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.

Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).

The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.

Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. CHECK!!

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Specifically addressing the 9/11 ad, I think the ads are poorly executed. As they were produced, the ads come across as either trying to diminish what happened on 9/11 or comparing tragedies. But I see in them the germ of a very challenging idea.

My impression is that the original idea was something more along the lines of: "Try to remember how you felt on 9/11. Remember how we all came together after it? Now imagine something 100 times worse happening. What if we could come together 100 times stronger?" Something like that might have been inspirational, even using the same imagery.

@Tomas---Your argument rings pretty hollow. With advertising, it doesn't really matter what your intent was--For example, I could show an image of Hitler presiding over a concentration camp to advertise sugar water. I doubt that if I called it "ironic" anyone would care what my intent was. It would still be offensive. Point being, not everyone is going to see the ad as you claim to have intended it. If an alien landed and saw it, I think they'd have very hard time interpreting a half naked man as automatically a "stripper"--There's no copy there to indicate that reading at all. And there's no copy to suggest the irony you wanted to convene. Your defense seems terribly hard to believe in.

Hi, My name is Tomás Fliess and I'm the creative director in NNSS Visual Universes.
Yesterday we received a mail with a link to your site, they have told us something about us was posted in it.
We were surprised when we read the title of the article, and more surprised when we read what you wrote about our campaign.
We guess you misunderstood the whole idea. When we thought the campaign we did it on such an innocent way, that we never occur someone could think it was racist.
We could have picked any male gender person (black, white, yellow, brown, tall, short) indistinctivly. The choice was made because we wanted to emphasize the myth or fantasy the black people have a larger penis. We don't think having a larger male organ can be checked as racist.
Slave trading?
What we are saying is that for the price you can get a vibrator in Europe, in Argentina you can hire a stripper with a big dick. (again, the big dick can be white, black or whatever color you want).
The campaign had an excellent repercussion around the world.
After we posted the campaign on the design studio facebook, we got some comments from black people who loved the campaign. They even tagged their picture with the name of our character. I don't think they felt it was racist at all. I think they got the message.
Unfortunately sometimes when you try not to communicate in a literally way, you take a risk some people will not get the message. We are willing to take that risk because we believe consumers are intelligent people who are tired of plain advertising. check.

Greetings from Argentina!
Tomás Fliess

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

Sorry, I sended the comment many times because the page seems to fail!
Cheers!

I think its hilarious the "creative director" Thomás can't use a web page to post his comments correctly. Then again, most creative directors are clueless.
Then again, most creative directors are clueless.
Then again, most creative directors are clueless.
Then again, most creative directors are clueless.
Then again, most creative directors are clueless.

oops.

PS its 9/11 today and I re-thought my previous comments. Now I DO wish the fools who did that 9-11 creative were working in tower #1 somewhere around the 75th floor on 9-11-01, so they would not be alive to offend me so much with such an incredibly stupid visual. I dont care what culture you are from, you are jerks.

I think its hilarious the "creative director" Thomás can't use a web page to post his comments correctly.

Then again, most creative directors are clueless.
Then again, m ost creative directors are clueless.
Th en again, most creative director s are clueless.
Then ag ain, most creative dir ectors are clueless.
Then again, most creative directors are cl ueless.

oops.

PS its 9/11 today and I re-thought my previous comments. Now I DO wish the fools who did that 9-11 creative were working in tower #1 somewhere around the 75th floor on 9-11-01, so they would not be alive to offend me so much with such an incredibly stupid visual. I dont care what culture you are from, you are jerks.

Check out Top 50 Stupid, Bad, Banned Ads and Commercials

I've created some bad ads in my day, but none as bad as these...

http://www.zappinglatam.com/noticias/2009/09/07/one-show-prohibira-por-5...

Reletad to this post, for people who can read in spanish!

It actually ran in a newspaper, despite WWF's insistence that it was never solicited nor approved.

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