Since this is a topic related to a TV ad, I figured this may be the appropriate forum. If not, I apologize ahead of time…
We all have seen/heard how many shows/movies have removed or changed any references to the WTC events of 9/11. The Twin Towers were edited out of scenes, a Spiderman movie was changed because the towers were a big part of one scene, and folks even say that the Simpsons episode featuring the towers will not be shown anymore. I even read that “E.T.” will be changed because of a line about terrorists.
But was anyone else surprised to see that a commercial (of all things) was changed too? It aired on ESPN pretty much all day today, and has been doing so for a while. It’s an ad for a nicotine patch. Though I can’t “prove” it, there is no doubt that the change was made because of the terrorist events. The ad features a woman and man on a high-up balcony at a party. The woman is smoking a cigarette, and the man approaches.
Old Version:
She: Aren’t the cravings terrible?
He: Well [gesturing to how high up they are], I’m not thinking of jumping, if that’s what you mean.
New Version:
She: Aren’t the cravings terrible?
He: Well [as camera moves to obviously different angle from behind, so the different lip movements can’t be seen], I’m not pulling my hair out, if that’s what you mean.
So now the entire topic of people jumping out of buildings is taboo too? Isn’t it rather pointless to change already-existent things? I can see maybe not making new films/shows/ads that might mention the towers or events, but do we really need to do stuff like this? Most importantly of all, the next time I watch “Bachelor Party,” is Tom Hanks no longer going to be able to say the following after meeting “Nick the D—”:
“Well, I was impressed when they built the World Trade Center, but that’s a piece of work.”
I saw that same commercial yesterday, and the line about jumping was still there. I noted it because given the prevailing attitudes I was suprised the line wasn’t changed.I’ll have to pay attention next time the air it to see if it’s been changed or if you just saw an edited version for ESPN
Yep, I saw both versions the same night (on different channels).
Oh, and I don’t think he was gesturing on how high they were. I believe he’s doing the steroetypical diving hand motion (putting your hands together in a prayer-like position then rotating them down and away from you).
I assumed the same as you, that they had changed it because of the WTC attack.
I’ve noticed this in other commercials over the years, although I can’t come up with an example off the top of my head. I think its a fairly common practice.
I have an example because it created quite a debate within the SDMB. The last line in a goldfish commercial was changed from “gotta go fishin’” to “gone goldfishin’.”
Some years ago, there were two different versions of a “Little Caesar’s” pizza commercial. This one was done from point of view of the “Little Caeser’s” pizza guy (the logo guy, that is, the one wearing laurels and toga).
He was going from house to house, knocking on doors, saying “Thank you! Thank you!”
When he knocks on one door, your here a chick’s voice from inside saying, “Hey! The male stripper’s here!” Upon opening the door, they look out and say, “Oooh–a gladiator!”
However, an alternate version of that commercial aired on some stations. In that one, the gal inside said “The entertainment’s here” instead of “male stripper.”
Bill Cosby used to sell Jello Pudding pops. There was a commercial were kids were picking the pops from a tree and Bill said something like “Hey you kids - get out of that jello pudding pop tree”
There were some complaints about kids being shown stealing on TV so the line was changed to “Hey you kids - get me a jello pudding pop from that tree.”