Posted on 03/06/2005 2:38:26 PM PST by wagglebee
A new United Nations campaign designed to get the public involved in the global fight against landmines is apparently too explosive for American television, as it depicts children being blown apart on a soccer field.
The 60-second public-service announcement titled "Kickoff" shows a match in progress before a buried mine on the playing field is detonated. (Editor's note: Click here to view the ad, some content is graphic.)
The explosion appears to kill and injure some girls, sparking panic and chaos among parents and other children. Shrieks of horror are heard through much of the spot, and a father is shown cradling his daughter's lifeless body, moments after celebrating a goal she had scored.
It closes with a tag line reading: "If there were landmines here, would you stand for them anywhere? Help the U.N. eradicate landmines everywhere."
The ad was developed for the U.N.'s Mine Action Service by New York-based Brooklyn Brothers.
A number of networks, including CNN, are refusing to donate the time to broadcast the PSA. In fact, there's yet to be a single media outlet to put it on the air.
"They're reluctant to show it," says Guy Barnett, creative director of Brooklyn Brothers. "We leapt at the opportunity, because we thought it was such a huge issue."
Valari Staab, president and general manager at KGO-TV, the ABC-owned affiliate in San Francisco, has viewed the PSA, but says her station has not been asked to broadcast it.
When asked if she'd put it on the air, she hesitated, citing concerns about the content.
"I think it could be pretty upsetting to a child who plays soccer." Staab said. "It's about the fears [of terrorism] children have today that they didn't have ten years ago."
Not only is there difficulty in finding a broadcaster to air the campaign, there were hurdles in getting the spot made in the first place.
"We had some resistance from some soccer teams," Barnett told WorldNetDaily, noting only two or three girls were paid actresses, but the remainder were real-life youth soccer players in New York state.
Though it appears graphic, Barnett says the "explosion" itself was simply a puff of air and dirt, so "there was no possibility of harming anyone in the filming."
According to the U.N. website promoting the PSA, the idea for the campaign is that "landmines may not be in your backyard, but they're in the backyards of people all over the world. The United Nations is helping dozens of countries end the threat of landmines. You can help too by donating to have a minefield cleared."
It's already prompting some chatter on Internet messageboards, including the following comments:
* "Unfortunately, in the world we live in now shock tactics like those are needed because so many people in the world are apathetic or ignorant of the plight of others."
* "The U.N. using shock tactics to make us Americans who donate more than any other country in the world feel bad? Not surprising. Wanna call us bullies? Fine. But your real bully is the U.N."
* "This is just pent up aggression spilling out. Any time I see the U.N. mentioned at all it just incites violence in me because I know they love stirring s--- up against us."
* I'm shocked that the U.N. would bring something like this out. The Brits already have enough trouble with their football fans – how long before they start mining their opponents' practice fields now that someone has presented the idea to them?"
Despite the cold shoulder from television companies, Barnett says there are no plans to tone down the campaign.
"There are other ways besides broadcast TV. We're not beholden to them anymore," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to get teamed with a website like MSN.com."
Yes, I believe it is. We should voice our thanks to New York-based Brooklyn Brothers for this disgusting example of fraternizing with an enemy of the United States.
Perhaps some of their other customers would like to know that we will not be purchasing items from concerns that do business with New York-based Brooklyn Brothers.
In-flippin-credible.
Since I tend to take things like this inflamitory ad in a literal sense first, I'd think the lawnmower that was needed to prepare the field would have blown it up before the first game was played on it.
This should probably drive a stake through the heart of soccer in this country. About time!
Not including the Korean DMZ line, which even Clinton refused Princess Diana's request to remove the land mines, who planted the 20 million (reported) land mines in the world? (numbers by nation, broken down I mean)
I don't know. Just wondering if any of you know more specifics on this issue.
The UN never seems to tire of attacking the US (as if all landmines are our responsibility) and then acting all coy and saying "Whaaaat? We didn't say anything!" and wondering why we hate their vile, theiving guts.
I am assuming there will be an ad that draws attention to sexual abuse of children soon? It wouldn't be hard to make. all they need to do is follow UN workers around with a camera.
A-holes. Get them the Hell Out Of New York. It's like sleeping with your ex-wife.
ping
Hmm, which deity's group of followers is the most likely to indiscriminately place explosive devices in populated areas? Gee, I can't think of any. Let me see....could it be.....ALLAH??
I'm not aware that the US has planted landmines anywhere except the Korean DMZ since WW II. I believe the main users of landmines are the former Soviet bloc nations.
Here's some more information.
http://www.icbl.org/problem/country?eZSESSIDicbl=724c7f20c9c539bce597836df2943b44
Why such an ad?
Landmines just don't exist in the US.
The ad just doesn't work. The place. The people. The situation.
My thoughts in watching it was the terror and horror the morning of 9-11. I think this is going to raise those feelings more than address the topic the UN had hoped.
The UN needs a new media consulting company.
[Of course, we know they are really wanting American dollars. Otherwise, the ad would have been played in areas where landmines are common.]
This is a classic of tacky advertising. While there's nothing amusing about land mines, it's hard to watch this without laughing at the amateurishness of it. The explosion looks like something out of a monty python sketch. It has all the sublety of the famous bill moyers/lyndon johnson daisy ad from the sixties. Rather than being controversial, it's just kind of embarrassing. I can't see any TV stations putting this on. It does not make a compelling argument about the dangers of landmines.
A much better one would be one that shows UN officials and what they do to children of the Congo they are there to protect.
Well there not here, so go trash talk the countries who do have them! I'm so sick of the UN. Why don't we make a commercial showing UN workers being blown up as they walk out of their comfy offices in NY? Let's see how they stand for that!!
I want to see a commercial of Kofi's blue helmets raping innocent children. From what I can tell, the UN has ruined far more lives in the last decade than landmines have.
The U.N. should be showing their ads in countries where there are landmines. The countries that buried them to kill their enemies (usually us)really ought to think about digging them up. Sure some of them are ours, perhaps the countires where this is a problem should use some of the excessive foreign aid we give them to dig them up.
The UN will attacks us over any and every thing they can.
After Saddam and Assad....is there any other evil such as the UN?
thanks.
We have thugs, warlords and third-world dictators here, on the shore of the East River. We should do something about them.
This has been around a while, and there's already a parody of it. Unfortunately you can't see the parody because that site was linked by so many people they ran out of bandwidth.
Then counter balance it by showing some of the truly needy souls in the world who are starving and living in squalor.
Sounds like an excellent idea to me...they could do a series of commericals with all the crap that UN has pulled!! Not to mention the things they HAVEN'T done...like their actual JOB. arghh!
My neighbors cattle got out the other day and a few of them left some land mines in my yard. Ya think I can get the UN to help with the clean up?
...and they're spending our money to do it!
Is this them? (Click on picture for website)
Email:
paul@thebrooklynbrothers.com
matt@thebrooklynbrothers.com
guy@thebrooklynbrothers.com
callum@thebrooklynbrothers.com
Mine the UN Plaza.
the UN's landmine "policy" is nothing but a cover for world wide small arms gun control. punch in "UN", "Landmines", and "gun control" in a google search and you will find this has been exposed/ reported on. Dave Kopel reported on this farce a few years ago..... 2001 i believe. 2005 was the next UN convention on small arms control.... so this is no coincedence.
go read Kopel's report on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the United Nations "small arms" conference:
http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel073001.shtml
We also have them as part of the Guantanamo defenses.
I had the misfortune to be involved in the medical aftermath of a fatal Bouncing Betty minefield maintenance accident during my tour there.
I agree, landmines are a serious problem in may parts of the world. In some countries like afghanistan, large portions of the populace are maimed from landmines left in the ground after years of fighting. The ad is likely intended for a U.S. audience because we haven't ratified the landmine ban treaty. But we've got good reason, the primary one being the Korean peninsula. We have also switched to using mines that self-desrtruct after a certain period of time so that they do not catch civilians years later. This commercial does a poor job of trying to play on emotions rather than demonstrating the facts and it has ended up backfiring. Regardless of what is thought of the U.N., we should be aware of the damage caused by these mines to innocent civilians and not be callous about indiscriminate death and destruction-I mean, that's why we fight the terrorists anyway.
Our tax dollars at work.
I understand that you run the UN ping list. :)
"The ad is likely intended for a U.S. audience because we haven't ratified the landmine ban treaty. "
That's intersting. I didn't know what they were getting at. They certainly don't make their case very clear and actually undermine their own position. I don't know how the U.N. is authorized to spend money producing ads for the u.s. market that conclict with the U.S. position. Another mystery of the arcane workings of the U.N.
___________________________________________
How do you know what it's like to sleep with my ex-wife?
There is a significant difference between the existing treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines and the small arms protocol. The small arms protocol deals with the ILLICIT TRADE in small arms, that is, the trade networks that provide arms to the insurgents and terrorists that we will be fighting for years to come. The landmine ban prohibits states from using mines, and does so because tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed as a result of their use in former battlefields like cambodia and afghanistan. No efforts at global gun control will ever come to pass because states would never agree limit such an important sovereign right.
Wait till the freepers who think the Chimp attack is funny get a hold of this.
Maybe they are UN supporters.
did you read Dave Kopel's report i linked to?
there is no one more versed in UN gun control and US gun control agenda. guess i'll believe him over you..
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Bottom line, we will continue to use land mines when and where we decide them to be effective, not just in the DMZ (which, btw, we do not control or patrol)
I've been to Bosnia and Kosovo and I've seen the legacy of land mines in the person of youngsters on crutches. There are entire tracts of real estate that are deadly still. I do not say that the US is responsible but neither are we totally innocent. War is hell.
the blame america first crowd.
how about the late night aids commercial which shows a city populated by only children 7 and under for some UN program?
They forget that the USA did not put in most of those mines. We now have celebrity flakes that take up this cause and ignore other causes like:
SLAVERY that exists RIGHT NOW.
UN soldiers sexually abusing those they are protecting.
and I predict with great comfort and certainty that the UN Tsunami relief scandal is just on the horizon.
WHAT HAPPEN?
What is the UN doing with the billions and billions of dollars that its members donate to it already? Clear the minefields yourselves, you jerks.
Thanks, Gummy dear. Nice to see you. :)
-Confucius, 500 BC
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