I certainly hope somebody (or even better, some bodies) at ABC gets fired over the whole scandal. Not only did ABC give away $40 million dollars by airing the crap-tastic docudrama, but now American Airline's ad dollars won't be spent at ABC either.
AdWeek - American Could Pull Ads From ABC
American Airlines is prepared to pull its advertising from ABC in order to protest its portrayal in the network's recently aired movie The Path to 9/11, according to a source. The carrier also said it is considering legal action against the network.The airline spends $25 million annually on broadcast TV ads; it could not immediately determined how much is spent on ABC, but according to one source, “It's extensive.”
Roger Frizzell, vice president, corporate communications and advertising, American, confirmed that the client is mulling its legal options.
The film in both its first and second parts appears to suggest that chief hijacker Mohammed Atta was flagged as a security risk at Boston's Logan Airport by American Airlines personnel. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that incident occurred earlier that morning, in Maine, and the airline was U.S. Airways.
Late Monday, American Airlines released the following statement: “The Disney/ABC television program, 'The Path to 9/11,' which began airing last night, is inaccurate and irresponsible in its portrayal of the airport check-in events that occurred on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
”A factual description of those events can be found in the official government edition of the 9/11 Commission Report and supporting documents.
“This misrepresentation of facts dishonors the memory of innocent American Airlines employees and all those who lost their lives as a result of the tragic events of 9/11.”
American said it would have no further comment beyond the statement at this time. But earlier in the day, it had sent a letter to those who had contacted the company with the same complaint, inspired by liberal blogger John Aravosis of Americablog [original post here - editors]. He received a letter that read:
“I think it is important for you to know that ABC had factual errors in its dramatization, and we are looking at possible legal actions as a result. . . . Please know this was a tragic incident in our company's history and we hope you will be sympathetic to our employees and our airline on this day especially. Again, we are outraged by this situation, and we alerted ABC about its gross error. It is very unfortunate.”
Frizzell signed the letter.
My impusle was (and probably still is, once I have a moment to breathe) to write directly to AA, as I am a long time AA frequent flyer member and make some white lie remark about not wanting to fly AA anymore because of the Atta allegations, and see what happens. Ok I did. Will post if I get a good response.
