# Coca Cola flag twin towers retail display **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412 "2016-09-09T03:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/1 "2016-09-09T03:33:03Z")
[As seen here](http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-9-11-tribute-features-coca-cola-products-2016-9), a retailer stacked cases of Coke to resemble a (parody of a) US flag with two stacks to evoke the old WTC. Some people complained about it, so they took it down. Me, I think it looked pretty crass and was several kinds of wrong (the flag was highly inaccurate, and the towers were not black), but not really worth complaining about. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/2 "2016-09-09T03:44:53Z")
I really don’t get the outrage. It was supposed to be a tribute. Big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/3 "2016-09-09T03:59:15Z")
Walmart. 'Nuff said. Now if they had the National Anthem being played hourly, … ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/4 "2016-09-09T04:00:23Z")
I saw that and, while I’m hardly ‘outraged’, I do think recreating the actual Towers with their product was in bad taste. If they had just done the flag with the banner it would have been fine. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/5 "2016-09-09T04:40:40Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I saw that and, while I’m hardly ‘outraged’, I do think recreating the actual Towers with their product was in bad taste. If they had just done the flag with the banner it would have been fine. Problem is, they needed a way to fit the black boxes in there. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/6 "2016-09-09T04:49:13Z")
It’s better than [this mattress commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZmM-2gj5Gc). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/7 "2016-09-09T04:54:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I really don’t get the outrage. > > It was supposed to be a tribute. > > Big deal. There’s a sense of “tribute” which means “attempt to increase sales of carbonated sweetened water by invoking the murderous slaughter of three thousand people”? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/8 "2016-09-09T06:02:52Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > It’s better than [this mattress commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZmM-2gj5Gc). I fail to get: what makes people think something like that is OK? ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/9 "2016-09-09T06:11:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I fail to get: what makes people think something like that is OK? The world is awash with morons. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/10 "2016-09-09T15:33:29Z")
I don’t get the outrage over the Coke display, either. Now, if Pepsi had done something similar I would be all frothing at the mouth, screaming and demanding legislation to ban them from Earth. But I do that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/11 "2016-09-09T15:37:26Z")
That’s not a “parody” of.the American flag. The flag appears in millions of forms in commercial and noncommercial contexts and its depiction ranges from visually accurate to impressionistic. Just because it isn’t true-to-life doesn’t make it a parody or disrespectful. On the other hand, the fact that we lean on nationalism, patriotism, and jingoism so heavily in our everyday lives is a national sickness of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/12 "2016-09-09T15:47:26Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I saw that and, while I’m hardly ‘outraged’, I do think recreating the actual Towers with their product was in bad taste. This sums up my feelings. Not a good idea, but not a news story, either. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/13 "2016-09-09T15:52:05Z")
If I saw that, I would be a bit disgusted at them trying to profit from tragedy. But wouldn’t complain or make a big deal of it. Also I don’t care to go in the store and walk by a beer display with pictures of sports and a recording playing a sports game. Basically I go to the store to shop/buy things. Not watch TV or think about the problems of the world. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/14 "2016-09-09T15:55:46Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I saw that and, while I’m hardly ‘outraged’, I do think **recreating the actual Towers with their product** was in bad taste. If they had just done the flag with the banner it would have been fine. Would have been worse if it was a Kingford display. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/15 "2016-09-09T16:19:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I really don’t get the outrage. > > It was supposed to be a tribute. > > Big deal. This. Local grocery stores had 5 rings for the Olympics & a big red P(hillies) for Opening Day among others. It’s just a big display & I consider it like found artwork in the supermarket. I’ve never seen a customer take product from the displays ( meaning they won’t Jenga a tower collapse). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/16 "2016-09-10T00:51:36Z")
No outrage. Not really selling me on Walmart but I’ve seen far offensive things in many places. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/17 "2016-09-10T01:01:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I really don’t get the outrage. > > It was supposed to be a tribute. > > Big deal. It’s not a “tribute” to use other people’s deaths to sell your product. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/18 "2016-09-10T01:04:29Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > If they had just done the flag with the banner it would have been fine. > [@](#): > > Another sign hanging above the display read “We will never forget” with a photo of the twin towers and the logos for Walmart and Coca-Cola. No… I think the same principle applies. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/19 "2016-09-10T04:13:45Z")
I wonder who was responsible for designing the display in the OP. I can’t imagine that some stock clerk had the time to figure it out and set it up on his own. So did the local distributor rep have a diagram someone back at the bottler handed out, with instructions for recreating it? Because I’ve seen other displays like this at the supermarket, perhaps for the Superbowl. I’m betting either store management or the distributor did this. (For products like Coca-Cola, the distributor restocks the shelf using its own rep, not store staff.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412/20 "2016-09-10T04:24:16Z")
I found an answer to my question in Orlando Weekly: "Charles Crowson, a spokesman for Walmart, told Orlando Weekly that the 9/11 display, which was located inside a Panama City Walmart, is currently being taken down. Crowson also let us know that Coke typically approaches Walmart with display ideas, and they either approve or deny it. In this case, Walmart approved the 9/11 display." [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-flag-twin-towers-retail-display/765412.md?page=2)