Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Having three kids under four in the house, I was unable to watch any coverage until after the kiddos had been put to bed. They’ll learn about evil soon enough, but not from Tom Brokaw. I had recorded several programs throughout the weekend and, that night, my wife and I decided to watch one hosted by Robert De Niro and sponsored by State Farm. The program itself was quite moving, as it followed a pair of French brothers who had been filming a documentary about a probie (rookie) fireman at the NYFD Engine 1/Ladder 7 firehouse only to be sucked into the events of the day. I (and probably you) had seen snippets of their footage through the years – their shot of the first plane hitting the WTC being one of the most horrifically memorable of that day – but had never seen their full, edited piece. Amazingly moving.

The two-hour program had only one commercial break featuring a 9/11-themed spot from State Farm. As numerous other blogs have noted over the past few days, incorporating 9/11 into a commercial message is tricky. Some will always consider it exploitative, while others view the work solely on its own merits. I fall into the latter camp. After all, corporations are made up of people. And if those people want to honor other people, I won’t complain. I may complain about how they do it, but this is the rare case in advertising where good intentions do actually count for something.

The spot is good. I didn’t find it as incredible as others have, but I also didn’t see it until Monday evening (parents of small children rarely last through a two-hour show in one sitting), so perhaps some of the drama had already worn off. But it’s simple. It feels sincere. And it’s true to the brand. Hard to find fault with that, and easy to find much good.

Later,

Fox