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May 21, 2009 7:03 PM

Ogilvy Disowns "Un-American" History Channel Ads

By
Jim Edwards
(MoneyWatch)  A series of ads created by Ogilvy & Mather for the History Channel that showed America in a bad light were never meant to be shown and were made only as part of a creative exercize, according to Silicon Alley Insider. The ads (pictured) have since been pulled from Ads of the World.

The ads said things like:
Iraqis killed under Saddam Regime: 300,000

Iraqis killed under U.S. regime: 1,030,000
and:
Pearl Harbor deaths: 2,378

Hiroshima deaths: 170,000
Just the sort of things that drive Americans nuts, in other words. An Ogilvy source tells SAI that the images were only meant to "provoke creative ideas" and "stimulate conversation," not to actually run in print or outdoor. SAI reported earlier the ads were intended to run in South Africa. In the meantime, SAI has put a "FAKE" watermark over the images to avoid confusion, although as SAI reports that the images were created by Ogilvy it's not clear what's "fake" about them. Judge for yourselves:

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
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