Whew! I was getting a little upset there for a second.

Yeah, I think that's the general idea. Very attention grabbing...

Eric, even without a prep from you, I would have been suspicious ... within the first five seconds, the spot has sent ample signals that it is not what it purports to be ... one doesn't need to be in the business ... anyone who's watched more than a few sales pieces would realize - almost from the start - that something's not right, and that the REAL message will be at the close.

That being said. I liked the message, A LOT

Jeff, I guess the admakers had to make sure that it wasn't too believable; otherwise, they'd risk losing the audience before the actual message.

As it is, you know something's fishy, and you can't wait to find out what it is.

Hey! It's a .mov and not .wmv?? How come? ;-)

Still, I'm sure I like that ad's subtext.

"Let's create a way to remember September 11th... before someone else does."

What's that supposed to mean?

I got the impression the ad is primarily concerned that Americans who lost loved ones might come up with their own ways of remembering September 11th, ways that don't involve sucking up to the perpetrators in "unity" events.

I got the impression the ad is primarily concerned that Americans who lost loved ones might come up with their own ways of remembering September 11th

Our interpretations couldn't be further apart. I see the message as being one of channeling the memory of 9/11 into positive action to help others, as opposed to commercializing the date for profit.

Now, granted, one would think that commercializing 9/11 would be economic suicide for the company or industry that tries it...but stranger things have happened.

I hadn't considered that as an interpretation, Eric.

I believe one of the main reasons I didn't is because 9/11 has already been heavily commercialized.

Granted, the approach hasn't been as crass as some bubbly voiced announcer girl, quite the opposite. Most ad campaigns have (wisely) taken a very noble-sounding approach, "let us pay our respects, let us honor the dead, and stand proud as a country."

But that's just the right approach for the target market. A lot of companies have been capitalizing on 9/11 while hawking an endless flood of "commemorative" 9/11 merchandise. There's the Danbury Mint statuette of the WTC, the collector's medallions, the train set, and (inevitably) the T-shirts.

The other reason I interpreted the ad the way I did is because the Executive Director for "Families of September 11" has been honored (March 7, 2005) with a Common Ground Award for International Understanding for running "town hall meetings" to foster better relations with the Muslim community . It just wouldn't do if Americans started thinking they don't share any "common ground" with a religiously intolerant Middle Eastern culture.

Top executives set the corporate culture for their organization and in light of Ms. Stern's efforts, I perceived a different meaning in that ad.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Mr. Freen -
Follow the link at the end of the video to http://www.nycremembers.org/ to get the intended message.

Please join us in pledging to observer 9/11 as a National Day of Voluntary Service. Make an appointment to give blood, donate to a charity of your choice, volunteer, help a friend in need, or just be kind to others...

Seems like an honorable way to mark the day.

I agree with Mr. Feen (sorta)
What are the producers of the video wanting/asking us to do?

Ignore anything and all events on 9/11 other than the tragedy itself. The number 911 will always be related with tragedy, any tragedy.

It's a bad video IMHO - It took Brian's request to actually visit the web site to understand what exactly this organization wanted from me.