Why Corporation's 9/11 Commercials Were Amazing and in Good Faith

In class today, we had a discussion about the commercials shown during NFL football games yesterday, September 11. These commercials were commemorating and honoring those lost on the attack on the World Trade Center 10 years ago. Personally, I found these commercials to be in good will and a really nice thing for these companies to do, but a bunch of people had a different viewpoint.


People thought that these commercials were for the companies just to make money by having the viewers believe that the company is compassionate, making the viewers purchase their products. They thought that these companies showing the commercials was disgusting and in poor taste because the goal of the commercials was to make money. It is ridiculous to think that people are belittling these commercials that are honoring the ones that were lost or affected by the attacks 10 years prior. In my opinion, the ones questioning these commercials are the horrible ones. How can you not see the good? These commercials were beautiful things, and to ridicule the companies for making them is dishonoring someone showing their respects to those affected.

Look at it this way. The NFL is a corporation. We have seen this throughout the long lockout this summer. Yesterday, before all the NFL games that I was able to watch, there was a pregame ceremony that the league held in each game where they had dozens of people hold a massive flag that spread throughout the entire field (see upper picture). There were beautiful renditions of the national anthem and other songs, and plenty of other little ceremonies that I was not aware of. Taking into account that the NFL is a corporation, would you say that the NFL is only doing this to make money? I mean, the same amount of people are watching both this ceremony and the commercials. Both are sponsored by huge companies (NFL and, for example, Verizon), so should they be treated the same? NO! This is completely wrong and I am astounded to I hear people argue for the contrary. These commercials are trying to convey the same message as the pregame ceremonies, We Will Never Forget.


Here is another example. Please watch this commercial before reading on. It is a commercial by State Farm that is made by Spike Lee and was aired throughout television yesterday.

After watching this, I hope you understand that State Farm is not trying to make money. Who would even think of buying insurance after watching a commercial like this? It is a very touching commercial that really made me appreciate the importance of September 11. These kind of commercials are just amazing, and there are many more trying to convey the same message, We Will Never Forget.

(Since writing this post I have discussed this topic with some of my friends, and I will concede a couple points. Companies like State Farm definitely realize that they can make some money off of this and have more people like them because they believe that State Farm cares. But, I also think that the main goal in mind for this commercial was to respect and honor those affected by the attacks. So, to summarize, I can see people's points about the fact that these commercials definitely have some profit for the companies, I will give you that.)