Ad of the Day: State Farm

Spike Lee honors New York firefighters, but not everyone loved Sunday's 9/11 tributes

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State Farm, Verizon, and Budweiser were among the companies that aired 9/11 tribute commercials during NFL games on Sunday. How you felt about them—and they were certainly seeking a reaction, preferably a misty-eyed one—may have depended on your general view of the role and scope of corporate messaging. If you feel that big companies have every right to share and comment on the experience of public life, you probably loved them. If you feel their perspective is always skewed and self-interested, and that any expression of sympathy is therefore unreliable or even exploitative, you probably hated them.

Or perhaps it's not that black and white.

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