Posted on 06/09/2009 12:54:57 PM PDT by RatherBiased.com
Prominent Vietnam veterans and their families are appalled by an advertisement for a major local mall that shows a woman in front of a wall that strongly resembles the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with the names of the center’s stores appearing instead of the names of the war dead.
Tysons Corner Center reacted quickly to condemnation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and ordered the immediate removal of 440 of the ads from the Metrorail cars where they have been posted, mall spokeswoman Allison Fischer said Tuesday afternoon.
The Tysons ad features a black granite wall engraved with a list of shops over the slogan, “It’s time to defrost.” The store names are presented in virtually the same font on a highly reflective surface like the Vietnam Memorial. There is an image in the background of a what could be a rose, a flower commonly left at the Wall.
“There’s no question my generation will see this as The Wall,” said Marshall Carter, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and a veteran of two tours in Vietnam. “There’s no getting around it. It jumps right off the page.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
That’s the best idea they could come up with?
Such ads are becoming more common. Doesn’t the management of these companies review the ads before giving Marketing the go-ahead? Somewhere in Tysons Corner, someone must have given a thumbs-up to the contrated advertising company telling them to go ahead. And when that person is identified, he/she should be fired without delay. and his/her boss as well.
Someone needs to get a grip. I think this is probably a waste of energy.
How could someone POSSIBLY be SO IGNORANT of our HISOTRY and monuments commemorating the ultimate sacrifice or our GREATEST AMERICANS???
Think about this, though, it's not like just one person created this ad. It would've had to have been created, approved, and reviewed by the ad agency, and then reviewed and approved by the marketing dept. of Tysons.
And no one picked up on that?
This isn't a case of it being similar. It's not evocative. It's vaguely identical.
Clueless liberal ad agency spreadin’ their hate disguised as an ad campaign. This one is blatant.
“Shoes for Industry.Shoes for the dead.
What chance does a returning deceased veteran have
for that new mule he’s been dreaming about.”
There are at least a few people in an ad agency and a property management firm somewhere who don’t have a clue.
Sorta keeping in the contemporary notion of Memorial Day being nothing more than a day off to ring in the spring with a big shopping day and backyard BBQ’s.
A common complaint of our aging ( and disappearing ) WWII veterans ).
That’s it?
That’s the “mockery”?
Sure, it looks somewhat like The Vietnam Memorial.
So, are we supposed to forever avoid the use of a black wall with words on it?
Sorry.
I don’t see a deliberate attempt to copy nor mock The Vietnam Memorial.
We have better (real) battles to fight.
Ah, what does “True Religion” sell?
> Sorry.
> I don’t see a deliberate attempt to copy nor mock The Vietnam Memorial.
Sorry... I can see it: it’s as obvious as dog’s bollix. And I’m a foreigner. If a foreigner can see it, surely every Yank in America can see it.
Jeans
You're not from around here, are you?
It’s Obama Time.
very poor taste, especially in the eyes of Vets. just unnecessary.
Yes, I am.
For about eight years now.
My skin’s just not so thin.
I didn’t realize Hussein Obimbo had taken over the Advertising Industry also.
That little moslem would do something exactly like this.
Oh.
You wouldn't understand, then.
(in air-head, valley girl-ese)
Well...shopping is kinda sorta like, like ya know war...ya know? </sarc>
Screw those traitorous maggots.
Here’s how life SHOULD be:
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=224549
[Proudly rode for my 16th year]
Sal “Salute Our Heroes!” Amander
I’m not sure what “It’s time to defrost” means, but I expect pseudo-sophisticated tackiness from Tyson’s Corner.
Nice.
I have as much contempt for you as I do for them. Bet you were ever in da Nam.
As a veteran and somebody who’s been to The Wall, I understand very well.
When the wall was approved, it was universally derided by veterans and veterans groups. Overall, the design was HATED.
However, it was visiting veterans and the actual interaction with the wall that made it popular and meaningful. Try doing the same thing with almost any other war memorial.
I see this as an incidental infringement (if that) and nothing intentional (which is what would be required to make it a true “mockery”).
I think it’s offensive. And it wouldn’t be tolerated if the memorial were for a group other than veterans.
Which battles do you think we should spend our time in fighting?
Incredible that something so disgusting could make it into the public eye in the first place. Also incredible that anybody could call people who object to this outrage “thin-skinned”.
Mine is.
I bet I could describe the person that created this mess to a tee....
Real ones.
Support for our soldiers.
Care for our veterans.
Protection and enforcement of our borders.
Things that actually mean something, instead of imagined symbolism.
I’m offended by it.
*ping for your opinion*
This ad strikes me as likely to offend patriots AND peaceniks. Pretty dumb.
> Things that actually mean something, instead of imagined symbolism.
American symbolism is very powerful stuff. Few (if any) countries have more symbolism, or convey more meaning by their symbols than do Americans.
I think one meddles with American symbolism at one’s peril. As this ad agency has found.
I agree with you.
Unbelieveable, I’m not a Vietnam vet and it’s pretty obvious to me what they were going for. UFB
I can’t say it “mocks” the Vietnam Memorial, but it sure looks wayyyyy too similar to be appropriate.
As to the copywriter? Dude, you need to turn it up a notch. "It's time to defrost?" Lame. Haven't you heard of Global Warming (TM)?
I think The Wall has been a failure in the eyes of those who designed it.
I think it was meant to be hated, as it was in the beginning.
There are many ways to use a black wall with light text and not make any allusions to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Had this ad used a different font and not used the diamond to delineate the words no one would have made any connection at all.
As GranPa Jone used to say "Outrageous!"
Nope! Nothing "clueless" involved in this desecration. This was an intentional act.
You can see the same sort of messages throughout all the textbooks used in the government brainwashing institutions that most of the government's children attend.
It takes a lot of effort to do something that dumb.
The ad was brainstormed a couple of months ago, when DC was still snowed under in a late spring, so they came up with a "Spring on the DC Mall" concept and then belched out the lame head "It's time to defrost."
Then they handed this off to the production artist, who was instructed to come up with some stock photo combining fashion and the DC Mall in the spring.
He came up with the model imposed over the Vietnam wall, with the flowers reflecting on it. there were likely other alts, such as the cherry blossoms, or the washington monument, but this one looked best with the whole black on black thing.
Some "creative" director (or mall marketing manager) said, "Hey, could we replace the names on the wall with our store names?"
And there you have it. Sad thing is, this ad passed through many, many hands in the approval process before it turned up on the buses.
“True Religion”?
Is that a reference to True Religion Brand Jeans?
I had to look it up online to even see what they sold. I was certain that it couldn’t be theological.
The Left is “anti-price war”. You work. You wait in line. You buy loaf of bread, comrade. Next month you buy something to go on bread you bought.
It’s copying The Wall. With a dumb tagline. Overall rating: Fail.
I remember when they built Tysons Corner.
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