BenQ uses WTC & 9/11 imagery to sell devices
By Peter Rojas 
posted Dec 1st 2006 6:39PM
posted Dec 1st 2006 6:39PM
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I haven't seen any ads promoting consumer goods that show images of the carnage inflicted against the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqui, or Israeli civilians. If you want to sell your Chinese products to American customers you better learn how to respect us.
who came up with that ad idea? someone's gonna get fired.
someone in BenQ's marketing department needs to be fired. this is not the way marketers are supposed to appeal to consumers.
"belive" is certainly spelled wrong, fake?
Well, in terms of using 9/11 imagery to sell a product, we should also think about World Trade Center as not just a tribute movie, but a means of revenue for the studio(s).
"belive" is certainly spelled wrong, fake?
Well, in terms of using 9/11 imagery to sell a product, we should also think about World Trade Center as not just a tribute movie, but a means of revenue for the studio(s).
They are marketing an MP3 player using an image of the WTC ruins. What makes you think they have the cultural/lingual wherewithal to spell check on their English ad campaigns?
go to www.benq.com.cn/musiq
this ad campaign isn't fake.
Is that really one of the towers? I can't for the life of me, tell what's going on in that ad...
so past the fact that it's an awful greedy marketing attempt...it was designed very poorly as well
And wtf is up with the asian Michael Jackson (single white glove) with dog-tags? That sure as hell doesn't make me want to buy anything.
Well... the dog tag IS the mp3 player.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/01/benqs-new-musiq-has-sights-on-shuffle-crown/
yeah, that ain't right. After all, they already used 9/11 to sell us one unnecessary war.
They don't even spell BELIEVE right.
They didn't even..... Oh the irony.
Wow.. This shows there's a lot of idiots working for benq. I mean how many people did this have to go through before it became this website? #1 is right, but I think it may need to be their entire chain of command in marketing.
unreal - when I saw that "belive" [sic] was spelled wrong I figured it might be fake, but http://www.benq.com.cn/musiq/ exists and that marketing campaign certainly references the WTC attack... sickening.
The ad is completely tasteless, but you all know that the single white glove is awesome. Maybe the white glove symbolizes hope, or at least that is what i BELIVE.
Holy Capitalism Batman! Is that an Ove' Glove with the fingertips cut off?
I think you all are missing the point. It isn't an insult or mockery about 9/11, it's a message of hope and a brighter future. The younger generation recovers, slightly worse for wear but not destroyed (represented by the Asian teen in his tattered clothes), and is able to use music to bring hope to the masses. That is the message here. Not to mention the general destruction images in the background weren't recognizable to me as the WTC. In any case I wouldn't say this is disgusting, I think everyone is being far too sensitive here.
you are missing the point.. do you really believe that benq is promoting world peace through MP3 players? they are using another nations tragedy for personal gain, and that's whats wrong... if zenith used tienamin square (sp) to sell a tv i think there would be alot of pissed off chinese people
I disagree. It's pretty simple. A message of hope or not, WTC and 9/11 have absolutely nothing to do with consumer electronics, and to combine the two in an emotionally evocative advertisement is both insensitive and manipulative.
Yeah, thanks genius. Of course we get what they're getting at, we're not stupid. You thought we didn't understand what heartstrings they were trying to pull?
It does not change the fact however that they are using an event where 2800 people died to try to sell me something. Think about that. Using thoughts of misery and death to manipulate me into buying their product. It's insulting and disingenuous.
omg, you gotta be kidding ... everyone knows that's the remains of the wtc and seriously, that's how kids dress these days (not in tatters)
I'm sure it was some guy who is completely cluess and just found an image of building wreckage that happens to be the WTC. At least give them the benefit of the doubt.
That is just wrong. I don't even like the Franklin Mint memorial 9/11 coins made from WTC silver with the towers raising from the ashes. No company should be capitalizing on the 9/11 tragedy.
Is that glove an old sock?
Oh yeah, and the ads are tasteless. Not because I'm overly sensitive, but because they are totally reaching to say that music, let alone THEIR mp3 player, is going to bring about a new era.
words cant express how i feel about using that to make profit. Thats so disrespectful.
Now that they have done the ad where hundreds died that can start focusing on individuals...Is there next ad going to have Nick Berg's head with the BenQ headphones attached...Maybe a JFK or MLK ad is next after that
I don't see it. Is there something I'm missing? I mean, I see rubble, but there's no overt WTC connection that I can make. ??
Still, I think that the opportunistic films that have been released over the course of the past year are as bad if not worse. You don't get an MP3 player after those two hours of tragedy-explotation.
I might barely give the benefit of the doubt to an ad featuring such a photo if the ad were genuinely about hope. However, this is a mere music player, a trivial product in comparison with technologies that offer real hope.
people say disrespectfull now, but when the prophet of Islam was being made fun of, that was 'freedom'....
This ad is no different than the ones from the recent elections - only the product is different.
Using anyone's tragedy to pimp your product is crass, and these folks seem culturally out of touch.
Bah; let them use whatever imagery they want.
Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple as that.
Yeah, sure. WHy not. Maybe they should have used some images from Auschwitz to promote their stupid radio.
Geez, get real dude. It's a very bad use of a photo. PERIOD.
people in china honestly don't understand the emotional impact that 9/11 has made. I was studying abroad in china a few months after 9/11, and the grammar teachers kept using 9/11 and world trade center and the pentagon as the nouns in the sentences we had to recite back to them. at one point, i snapped at one of the teachers.
since their communist government keeps a lid on all the tragedies/bad news in their nation (ie - tienamen square, sars) i bet they don't understand the emotional connection.
regardless, i believe it is completely bad taste. but i think part of it is ignorance, not just greed.
BenQ, do us all a favor, focus on your namesake and get BenT.
Films, books, newspapers and documentaries are made all the time to profit off others misery. What about all the people who died in the Second World War, is Call of Duty or Saving Private Ryan offensive to them ? Does Steven Spielberg not profit from the Holocost with his movie Schindler's List.
Actually, Steven Spielberg refused to be payed for the movie for the exact same reason.
There is generally a big difference between something like a book, movie, game, etc. that tells a story about something, and just using the imagery as part of an ad campaign. So yes, taking your example, there's a big difference between, say, a movie about the Holocaust, and using images from the Holocaust to sell some other product. It's considered perfectly legitimate to make a movie or book or whatever telling a story of WWII, the Holocaust, or any other number of events. But it would be considered tasteless to use images of dead bodies from the invasion of Normandy in product advertising. It's the same basic issue here (although perhaps a bit muddled, since BenQ's intention with this campaign does at least to be some sort of message about how music can maybe help people deal with tragedy, etc.).
actually... right below the MusiQ logo, there appear to be a couple of alien space ships. I guess civilization has been wiped out by aliens, so we could all use a little hope.
'Bah; let them use whatever imagery they want.
Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple as that.'
uh excuse you?
do you have any respect for anything? People are out there profiting off the death of US citizens and all you can say is 'dont buy their product'?
I dont know where you're from but as an American its pretty much my patriotic duty to be at least a little pissed off if not completely morally outraged that someone thinks that they can generate some ad campaign off the death of my country men.
This is as tasteless as using a bombed out image of Hiroshima to sell fire insurance.
i really dont see why people get pissed off about it. since its obviously a foreign company, they probably didnt realize the significance of the pictures. they probably just grabbed a picture labeled with "destruction" or "ruins." even i didnt notice it was the WTC until people started complaining about it.
accept it for what it is, a picture of ruin, not an attempt to profit off of the WTC tragedy
http://www.benq.us/support/contact/index.cfm?region=78&query=5
Use the above site to voice your complaint. This just set me off.
If I ever meet* the person that was in charge of producing this ad or anyone involved with its' production I will probably insert one of their metal p.o.s. gay music players promptly up their ass and make them bleed out their mouth in the process.
yea its like that.
I don't see how this is suppose to be the WTC..........................
Blasphemy, I tell you! It's almost as tasteless as those Danish prints.. well, I guess that's what you get when certain 'sanctification' hasn't gotten through to certain population yet..
Americans (yes, I'm one) are generally way too sensitive about 9/11--it should not be treated as sacrosanct the way it usually is these days. However, this campaign is about as culturally sensitive as someone in the U.S. using the image of the Tiananmen Tank Man or murdered civilians from the Rape of Nanjing to hawk Western fast food.
Taiwanese people fail.
As the Chief Creative Director for The Conspiracy Project (a viral and full-service marketing firm) I am truly disgusted by this ad. I have looked at the site (it has a .cn extension) and I am having a very difficult time understanding how and why this was approved, let alone how and agency (based anywhere) could have sank to deliver this horribly ill concieved concept.
I have contacted the chief marketing officer in both the US and Taipei. I have offered my services to help them fix this problem. I truly hope they get in touch to fix this mess. TCPSF.com
does it really matter?
"Waaah, it's too soon!!"
(am I the first?)
Have you noticed that the ad is from a Chinese website? I'm guessing that the majority of Chinese citizens aren't going to make that kind of association.
Typical Americans... center of the universe. Never, ever tuned in to watch celebrity singalongs to save the world. Or corporate sponsorship of any television programming about world tragedies, past or present. You never saw the American Express ads featuring surfer Laird Hamilton which was scheduled on several networks following newscasts of the 2004 tsunami. And you hollered in anguish as you watched US political campaigns featuring WTC imagery during the 2004 elections...
"The American dream. We refuse to let anyone take it away. So, GM announces interest-free financing. On every new car. And every new truck. Now through Oct. 31. Believe in the dream. Believe in each other. Keep America rolling." -- General Motors ad, October 2001
'Typical Americans... center of the universe. Never, ever tuned in to watch celebrity singalongs to save the world. Or corporate sponsorship of any television programming about world tragedies, past or present. You never saw the American Express ads featuring surfer Laird Hamilton which was scheduled on several networks following newscasts of the 2004 tsunami. And you hollered in anguish as you watched US political campaigns featuring WTC imagery during the 2004 elections...
"The American dream. We refuse to let anyone take it away. So, GM announces interest-free financing. On every new car. And every new truck. Now through Oct. 31. Believe in the dream. Believe in each other. Keep America rolling." -- General Motors ad, October 2001'
you know what? you're right. because an american corporation tried to make a profit off this, I'm no longer entitled to talk.
Shut up.
Okay here's one for you BenQ:
There's nothing hotter than a nice new MP3 Player! Not even the ball of nuclear plazma that seared the skin off of those in Hiroshime and Nagasaki can beat the brilliance of a new MP3 player!
Yes, you can rock on with your awesome MP3 player as you run from the gas in the Tokyo subway. The base is so clear that you will swear that you're hearing firebombs raining down from B-29's.
With this excellent MP3 player, you can enjoy your music ANYWHERE, even in remote caves under Iwo Jima, the sound will come through just as the Marines pump napalm into your hideout.
Seriously: Who ever has written this is really trying to make some enemies. While I value freedom of speech and all that, if the execs of this company were to meet with a very long and painful death, I wouldn't be upset at all.
Oh I know. "America is Evil" rigth? Because you don't like Bush and you think the Iraq war was not justified.
Look: There's no reason why the United States should take this one on the chin from a nation who we have major diplomatic relations with. If this is going to be pumped out by Japanese companies, then we have a right not to treat them as friends.
I don't see what's wrong with it... The bush government has certainly used the tragedy to cause alot of negative things (war with Iraq, impending war w/ Iran, curtailing of my civil liberties as a US citizen, etc...). At least BenQ is using the imagery in a positive fashion... And heck since when did capitalism have morals... WE have no problem with slave labor as long as we get cheap gizmos but oh no they desecrated 9/11.... Get a grip folks...
It's not fake-- go to http://www.benq.com.cn/musiq/ These guys are obviously clueless.
BenQ is in Taiwan. Not Japan.
Not a big deal, misjudged at best.
Wow, BenQ sunk even lower after Siemens merger, one of the stupidest acquisition in recent memory. Someone should fire the entire executive teams, and start over. Acer, are you listening?
You have to realize that the site is not intended for the American public. It is not an English site. We may immediately recognize it as the world trade center. But, in China it would just be some post-apocalyptic scenery. I have seen the scene in Tiananmen Square used in advertising before. We must think globally. Hense, I seriously doubt anyone will be fired for that.
Drbuzz: Why would china care about what happened in Japan? Or do you think that Hiroshima is in mainland china? I dont understand how that's "throwing one back at em".
1. That english is shopped on
2. ITS A DESTROYED BUILDING WITH ALIEN SHIPS IN THE CORNER CALM THE F#$% DOWN!@#
Jeez people. It's like you want an excuse to go off.
Yeah... I gotta agree and say that BenQ really crossed the line on this one. Any political ads that use the same tactics is ALSO WRONG! The only difference is, if you living in the U.S. -- YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
Although the ad isn't fake, I think the english translation is fake. I think someone took the original taiwanese ad and photoshopped it into an english ad, and did a real sh!tty job by mispelling believe. The original ad in taiwanese was roughly translated to "Even if the world is destroyed to dust, I still believe in music" which I think is worse than "music makes hope." At least the latter tries to add some sort of positive message. I mean, search around in other blogs and you'll find the original ad.
Over all, I still think it's tasteless.
that is a hooooot asian
Michael Jackson, is that you?
God damn, for a bunch of nerds you guys(gals?) sure are sensitive... I mean that was years ago, and 3000 people died. More people than that have been killed by the gangs in New York in the last 5 years than that. We should shun any add that has a gang related picture in it.
Or better yet... every 3 weeks 3000 people die from smoking. We definitely need to shun every add that has a cigarette in it. I mean how disrespctful is it to make money off of adds that that uses something that kills as many people as 9/11 once a month! And we all need to march down the the tobbacco company and start a full on WAR for selling products that kill so many people.
And don't complain that I 'wasn't a part of it and can't feel the pain' since I live in LA. I was on flight united 175 the week before the attacks flying home from a vacation on the east coast. If that wasn't a close call I don't know what is. If school had started a week later I would be dead.
But get over it!
This american ad is just as tasteless. Imagine being Japanese and seeing this ad after the Hiroshima bombing.
http://www.whitelabel.org/2006/01/19/possibly-the-most-tasteless-advert-ive-ever-seen/
For those who are in doubt about the ruins in the background. It's a photograph from Ground Zero Ironworker Ira Sapir, although I can't find the unaltered image (even though I've seen it thousands of times). I don't really have time to go looking for it either. Therefore, maybe someone else could assist in doing so.
By the way, it looks like they took the image (probably without consent too) and mirrored/color balanced/leveled it, with some other miscellaneous crap added in.
Here's an art piece utilizing the image:
http://www.ca911memorial.org/test.jpg
No company should be capitalizing on the 9/11 tragedy.
--
ESPECIALLY NOT ONE OWNED BY DICK CHENEY
hehe
Doesn't anyone remember when chevy pulled the same thing, using Vietnam, 911 and Katrina to sell their chevy pickups?
http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2006/11/05/chevy_ads_borrow_icons_from_history/
Its not as messed up at this, but at least the Chinese people probably didn't know what they were doing.
Personally I don't find a damn thing wrong with it.
I'm curious - is it any better that Apple tried to connect Einstein, Jim Henson, Hitchcock, Amelia Earhart, Picasso, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison in posters and Martin Luthor King, Muhammed Ali, Buckminster Fuller and John Lennon (especially ironic) to Macintoshes?
Benq's badly formed message is a good one - but it's a commercial - as is Apple's. I wish people would remember, these are businesses who have one thing in mind and it's not saving the world or changing your life...
It's making money.
Hey!
I've got a really great ad campaign idea for them!
how about they get a picture of the guy that was standing in front from the Tanks in Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and stick one of these things on him.
I wonder how well that'd go over in their Chineese boardroom?
That is if they've managed to get through the Great Firewall and read about it.
Why not use 9|11 as a way to sell a product? God know Bush used it to sell the war in Iraq to the American public.
"Drbuzz: Why would china care about what happened in Japan? Or do you think that Hiroshima is in mainland china? I dont understand how that's "throwing one back at em""
My apologies: I was unaware of the nationality of BenQ. I apparently thought it was Japanese. I will have to come up with somwthing equally offensive for China.
And by the way.
"This was used in elections:" My response is this: Terrorist attacks are a relevant topic for political campaigns. Also, it was much more tasteful than this.
"GM used 9/11 in commercials" No, not exactly. They implied a sense of patriotism, which could be considered a reference to 9/11 and they may have invoked a sense of the economic consequences. However, it was not this kind of blatantly distasteful imagery.
"don't buy their products" I certainly won't. Actually, I can't imagine anything that would make me want a BenQ product after this. I really hope that everyone else takes this to heart.
Lets please stop with this "Typical American" or "Here's my chance to say how much I hate Bush."
This has nothing to do with Bush or Cheney or any of that. Those are entirely separate issues which IN NO WAY justify this advertisement which is so absolutely disgusting that it should shock and anger anyone who sees it.
Maybe it's because I'm not American, but I couldn't tell that it had anything to do with 9/11 and the WTC. Combined with the brown hues and the militaristic search lights I'd say it was meant to be some kind of fictional, post-apocylptic picture.
Seriously, I don't recall seeing lights like those in all the news broadcasts I saw of 9/11.
so tell me, where the hell does it show them trying to profit off of the World Trade Center?
a) the original ad was in chinese
b) no mention of WTC anywhere. or patriotism
c) the photo was even photoshopped to give it a sense of unrealism, like its in the middle of a huge war
d) the original tagline had nothing to do with terrorists or anything
e) even engadget didnt notice that the image was WTC until it was pointed out in the comments. seriously, its not as if its a VERY OBVIOUS ploy to generate sales
f) you think theyre really stupid enough to try and use 9/11 to sell an mp3 player?
g) main target, china. any bitching over there about abusing an image of 9/11? nope. none that i can see.
h) its amazing how ignorant a bunch of you are. bush abuses 9/11, its ok. Apple abuses historical figures, its ok. a foreign country photoshops an image to signify a destroyed city, suddenly bitching. would you all care so much if a company used WW2 battlefields in ads?
who knows maybe china and taiwan are using this to support terrorist attacks on the US? seriously the sheer racism and ignorance of some of the posts disgust me, yet we claim ourselves to be the shining city on a hill.
I realy can't see how people can't find this offensive. And what's this about it being years ago. The haulocaust was years ago, you don't see advertising with it. Oh I forgot, it's in the "Million+ Deaths" Club. They must get special status. I'm sure people in UK would enjoy seeing another BenQ ad like this with some guy running out of a Subway station with the words "Thank gosh I was listening to music and the doors closed on me".
The picture actually is from their website under the wallpaper section but its so modified that it doesnt bother me, I didn't associate it with 9/11 at all. Thats way to big of a generalization for me.
Many movies, bands, and other AMERICAN products do the same thing, whether they admit it or not, and I agre Music DOES give hope, so all the power to them report tech news, not opinions please
This is sick. Whoever made this and whoever gave this the "ok" and be published must be fired. I'm not buying anything with the BenQ logo ever.
You Americans are too overly sensitive about this issue.... personally, I don't see people boycotting United 93, Fahrenheit 9/11, or Twin Towers movies. I don't see anyone boycotting documentaries or tv shows that contain 9/11 footage. What is wrong with you people??? And now you complain or find an excuse because this is a worthy product that is better than the iPod Shuffle?
Even though I agree that the marketing campaign isn't the best --- so if you don't like it, don't buy it.
rick:
"This ad is no different than the ones from the recent elections - only the product is different"
Rick has said it all. Way to go man.
As a clarification, I have seen several posts stating that this image in no way relates to 9/11, however the bottom left corner of the ad contains a portion of the buildings' ground level facade, one which was unique to the towers. Had this not been present the image would have been effective advertising, but as it is it only serves to offend.
This has nothing to do with Bush or Cheney or any of that. Those are entirely separate issues which IN NO WAY justify this advertisement which is so absolutely disgusting that it should shock and anger anyone who sees it.
----
Dude.. Cheney runs Haliburton... come onnnn.. you can't see the irony... in.. people profiting from 9/11?...
Oh.. right.. you don't even know what Halliburton sells... they equip troops with gear, food, and supplies... and their stock has rocketed in the past few years...
If I as an American didn't recognize the image, I'm pretty sure that the Chinese people who made this ad for the Chinese market didn't recognize it either. Give people the benefit of the doubt before getting all outraged.
It doesn't matter if the ad is in Chinese on a Chinese website. If it exists on the internet, it exists for the world.
Doug, Iraq was not sold to the American public because of 9/11
Afghanistan's was because of 9/11
Iraq is over WMD's
Please. You're an American and you don't recognize the shattered building facade of the WTC? My god. Next thing you know you're going to tell us that you wouldn't recognize a picture of the USS Arizona going down, or would have no clue what you were looking at if I showed you the photo of the flagraising on Iwo Jima? How about the statue of liberty? Would you recognize that? Maybe I could put a picture of the Capitol building next to one of the Kremlin and you couldn't tell me which is what?
Dammn, have some respect for your country and at least familiarize yourself with its tragic moments. I know a really great 3rd grade history teacher, perhaps we could start you out at the Boston Massacre?
If this is real I can kinda see the sentiment -music can bring people of all cultures and countries together and agree on something BUT- this isnt the way to do it and all they are doing is trying to flog a music player with it- perhaps if this was an ad for a benefit concert it might be even slightly justified..
come on benq whats next? some guy on the beach after the tsunami with a boombox as a face down in the water body floats past...? they need to sort their act out!
Maybe Benq should go take some pictures after another Chinese mine tragedy and use those as part of the campaign, too. Maybe a trapped miner happily listening to his little MP3 player, as he slowly suffocates.
Sure makes me wanna go out and buy one or two!
It is strange that they used the WTC ruins for the ad. It is tasteless and it will millions of people.
Of course, the ad execs must have not intended to offend Americans with this ad. However, they could have used a different background. Since the entire website is in Chinese, I believe their intended audience is the Chinese.
However, I am sure that the execs are excited about getting all this publicity. I never even heard of benQ before this ad. That dog tag mp3 player looks amazing. I want one if the memory goes up to 1 to 2GB.
As a member of the U.S. Armed Forces (the Army and the Navy) just seeing this imagery draws recollection of not only people that I have met in passing along my travels, but also friends losing their lives in a pointless war.
I sincerely hope that BenQ will realize their error and correct it soon. They have made some amazing products (many of which I own), but will not purchase again if I feel they didn't make this choice in error, or choose to correct their mistake.
You are doing exactly what they want you to do. You are giving them (attention whores) the grace of your attention. I say boicot BenQ by not buying BenQ stuff. Show them who is in charge.
I see nothing wrong with this really. They are just showing that its a rugged product, since it is designed after dog tag which are supposed to last longer than anything else on the soldier.
Well I first looked at the pictures, I saw nothing related to WTC. The tower looks like a cathedral tower and there is rubble. Maybe others who actual saw the picture that was used can notice it better.
Actually, if you look at the website, the campaign ad uses parts of the towers (whole and ruins) and most significantly, the searchlights shooting out of the ground approach, which from an artistic standpoint, is very evocative imagery. The text on the website, BTW, reads "Even if the world is torn asunder, I still believe in music." Sort of like those cheesy "I believe love conquers all things! Buy a diamond!" DeBeers commercials, if you will.
Before people go "ZOMG HOW DARE YOU USE 9/11 IMAGERY FOR PROFIT," you're starting to sound like those Muslims who freaked out over the cartoons. Different purposes, of course, but the absurdity over your own holier-than-thou attitude is pretty hypocritical.
If anything, it looks like whoever was told to photoshop the background took a bunch of stock pictures, blended, applied hue and some black smoke. Marketing capitalizes on all sorts of emotionally sensitive issues for many people. This ad is also marketed toward Chinese-speakers (probably from PRC, Taiwan, and HK) to whom 9/11 happened, was bad, and then moved on. This ad would never make it in the US because obviously, as these comments have indicated, there's too many kneejerk reactions. Sure it's on the internet, and the internet is for all to see, but then when you're on the internet, you get offended and move on instead of harping about how woe is you, no one understands your pain. Unless of course, you want to do that.
Yes, it's bad to capitalize on traumatic events, and I definitely say change the ad, but I'm sure using the tank man picture from the Tiananmen demonstration in various satires and advertisements really give Americans the moral ground to stand on. The Chevy campaign was more egregious, IMO, because this was aimed at tugging the heartstrings of a country affected by 9/11, and yet it still runs on American TV. Now that's sad.
Don't forget that two movies about the 9/11 attacks have already been put through the theaters, how many TV series, Dramatizations, TV News, etc... many use the emotions embodied in the imagery for profit.
ALL of this is unfortunate -- but not new.
You people have it all wrong.
He's saying "I Be Live".