Cantor-Fitzgerald's TV Ad Campaign

[brian_igo]

Has anyone caught these spots yet?

I saw a couple on Bloomberg TV this weekend. They are very well done, with each ad having one employee explain in their words why they are going forward, the two spots I saw leaned heavily on rememberences of those who were killed on September 11. And it is certainly riveting to watch.

But still, I was left feeling more than a little uncomfortable by it all. Part of me knows that if anyone has the right to say how 9/11 changed their business and their life, it is Cantor Fitzgerald. (As opposed to the spots ran by the postal service and NYSE.) Maybe the confesional style of the ads is too much. Seeing these people talk about the funny things their dead coworkers used to do is like seeing the missing posters from last fall. And that makes me ask if I'd feel better if the company had just disappeared with the towers and all those people?

A lot to think about for a thirty-second TV ad.

I guess in the end I'm glad C-F made the gutsy call to do this. Not a year has passed and we have already nearly smothered what happened with simplification, symbols and rituals. They are lies we need to tell ourselves to heal, but the truth is there is nothing simple, symbolic or ritual about what happened. Nearly 4,000 people were murdered that day and the lives of countless thousands more were forever changed. What happened on September 11 was messy, complicated and grotesque as nothing should ever be. I think we need to be reminded of that, and I thank Cantor-Fitzgerald for having the guts to speak out.


Brian

Seen a few.

Shameless. Tasteless in tasteful's clothing. Planes should have killed the a--hole who came up with this campaign, too.

[CurtisEdmonds]

Part of me knows that if anyone has the right to say how 9/11 changed their business and their life, it is Cantor Fitzgerald. (As opposed to the spots ran by the postal service and NYSE.)

In fairness to the postal service, they did have some people die due to anthrax exposure.