• Bnet.com, Thursday, September 15, 2011 10:15 AM

Bnet columnist Jim Edwards argues that Mike Sheehan, CEO of ad agency Hill Holliday, is "flat wrong" to criticize Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)'s decision recreate with slight changes, his original Sept. 11 tribute ad that ran in the Super Bowl 10 years ago. Both old and new ads have the Budweiser Clydesdales walking to within viewing distance of lower Manhattan and bowing their heads. "The average consumer would be hard-pressed to spot the difference," says Edwards, pointing out that in the original ad it was snowing. He quotes Sheehan who said "... it still is often cited as one of the best Super Bowl spots of all time. Maybe it deserves that citation, maybe not."

Edwards says Sheehan's view of the ad as a masterpiece is a bit over the top. "'All time'? Really? Many New Yorkers, for whom the ad was made, might not have reached that conclusion due to the way the horses zig-zag improbably from Vermont to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge and then - after hopping on a PATH subway train, presumably -- arrive in Jersey City, N.J., to pay their respects. Hill Holliday is based in Boston."

Sheehan says that "the hallmark of sending a meaningful personal message is that you only need to say it once." Writes Edwards, "It's the 10th anniversary of the attack, which happens to fall on the same day of the NFL's season opener. You have a tasteful, well-received spot that no one has seen for 10 years, and remains as relevant today as it was when it first aired. You can run it for a fraction of the creative fees that making a new ad would cost. Does it really make any sense to commission a new one?"

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