September 11 is supposed to be a somber day of remembrance for the victims, the heroes, and the families that were impacted by the tragedy — not an opportunity to sell something.
But, a number of companies have chosen to exploit the 9/11 attacks in ads selling everything from newspapers to PSAs to arthritis medications. There's even one for mattresses.
This slideshow is a collection of ads using 9/11 as a central theme, no matter how inappropriate. (Some of them have been around for a while — CBS did this gallery in 2011.)
Mini Cooper (USA)
With a touch more respect for the tragedy, TAXI's ad for the new mini played on the theme of newness, saying "Let there be xenon. New. Still mini," which ran below an image of two headlight beams intended to represent the beams from Ground Zero.
Action on Smoking and Health's Tobacco Awareness (New Zealand)
"Terrorism-related deaths since 2001: 11,377. Tobacco-related deaths since 2001: 30,000,000."
This startling tagline ran alongside an image of two burning cigarettes fashioned to resemble the Twin Towers. DDB New Zealand created this ad for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and ran the ad in 2008. There is debate over whether or not the ad was even intended for distribution, but either way it made its way from New Zealand to ASH's U.S. website, sparking extensive controversy.
CoBis' IT Security (Brussels)
CoBis is an IT company based out of Brussels that ran this ad, by LG&F, which imagines a computer mother board like Lower Manhattan, and warns, "Some day your computer might become a target."
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