We're not exactly what you'd call sanctimonious -- we try not to take ourselves or what we're doing too seriously -- but we feel obligated to call BenQ out for using an image of a crumbled World Trade Center in an ad for its new MusiQ campaign. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they don't understand how wrong it is to use the imagery of 9/11 to push products, but ultimately what they're doing is simply not acceptable. BenQ, do us all a favor, focus on your namesake ("Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life") and don't ever try to be this kind of "hopeful" again.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gabriel @ Dec 1st 2006 8:28PM
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.
Kevin @ Dec 1st 2006 6:43PM
someone in BenQ's marketing department needs to be fired. this is not the way marketers are supposed to appeal to consumers.
Brad Hodson @ Dec 1st 2006 6:46PM
"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).
The Downer @ Dec 1st 2006 6:52PM
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?
chenry @ Dec 1st 2006 6:59PM
go to www.benq.com.cn/musiq
this ad campaign isn't fake.
PP133 @ Dec 1st 2006 6:49PM
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.
Hunter @ Dec 1st 2006 10:31PM
Well... the dog tag IS the mp3 player.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/01/benqs-new-musiq-has-sights-on-shuffle-crown/
doug @ Dec 1st 2006 6:50PM
yeah, that ain't right. After all, they already used 9/11 to sell us one unnecessary war.
chenry @ Dec 1st 2006 6:51PM
who came up with that ad idea? someone's gonna get fired.
kansonb @ Dec 1st 2006 6:51PM
They don't even spell BELIEVE right.
John Doe @ Dec 1st 2006 10:27PM
They didn't even..... Oh the irony.
mrmonkey @ Dec 1st 2006 6:53PM
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.
Brandon Roland @ Dec 1st 2006 6:55PM
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.
The Downer @ Dec 1st 2006 7:03PM
Holy Capitalism Batman! Is that an Ove' Glove with the fingertips cut off?
Alexander Pink @ Dec 1st 2006 7:01PM
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.
mattie @ Dec 1st 2006 7:57PM
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
Ryan Block @ Dec 1st 2006 7:48PM
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.
Nate Weaver @ Dec 1st 2006 9:04PM
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.
Kirk @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:48AM
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)
Michael @ Dec 1st 2006 7:03PM
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.
Chris @ Dec 1st 2006 7:06PM
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.
Juan @ Dec 1st 2006 7:06PM
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.
GJP303 @ Dec 1st 2006 7:08PM
words cant express how i feel about using that to make profit. Thats so disrespectful.
Kurt @ Dec 1st 2006 7:14PM
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
Brad Hodson @ Dec 1st 2006 7:21PM
"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).
David @ Dec 1st 2006 7:21PM
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.
rick @ Dec 1st 2006 7:23PM
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.
Justin Ramos @ Dec 1st 2006 7:30PM
Bah; let them use whatever imagery they want.
Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple as that.
Antonio Rosario @ Dec 2nd 2006 1:26AM
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.
uicandrew @ Dec 1st 2006 7:34PM
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.
adrianj @ Dec 1st 2006 7:38PM
BenQ, do us all a favor, focus on your namesake and get BenT.
Jason @ Dec 1st 2006 7:38PM
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.
Brian @ Dec 1st 2006 7:39PM
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.
Henry @ Dec 1st 2006 8:47PM
Actually, Steven Spielberg refused to be payed for the movie for the exact same reason.
Zadillo @ Dec 1st 2006 9:44PM
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.).
Matt B @ Dec 1st 2006 7:53PM
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.
Ivan @ Dec 1st 2006 7:55PM
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.
JRA219psu @ Dec 1st 2006 7:59PM
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.
David @ Dec 1st 2006 8:09PM
I don't see how this is suppose to be the WTC..........................
evo @ Dec 1st 2006 8:14PM
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.
Eric M @ Dec 1st 2006 8:14PM
Taiwanese people fail.
chenry @ Dec 1st 2006 8:24PM
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.
Hel @ Dec 1st 2006 8:26PM
does it really matter?
Stephen Para @ Dec 1st 2006 8:27PM
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
Arno @ Dec 1st 2006 8:33PM
"Waaah, it's too soon!!"
(am I the first?)
MiltonBradley @ Dec 1st 2006 8:38PM
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.
Curt @ Dec 1st 2006 8:41PM
This is as tasteless as using a bombed out image of Hiroshima to sell fire insurance.
Michael @ Dec 1st 2006 8:44PM
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
metal @ Dec 1st 2006 8:53PM
'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.
metal @ Dec 1st 2006 8:51PM
'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.