American Confirms: Ad Pulls an Option

DALLAS American Airlines today confirmed that it is prepared to pull advertising from ABC and its affiliated properties in order to protest its portrayal in the network's recently aired movie The Path to 9/11."We're still weighing our options," said American representative Tim Wagner, who confirmed a story first reported Sept. 12 by Adweek Online.Pulling advertising "is something that's currently under review. We're currently planning our fall and winter advertising schedules. The option is open to pull our local advertising, as well." Most local advertising runs around major hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. "We do a lot of advertising in smaller markets, too."The carrier also said it is considering legal action against the network.ABC representatives could not be reached for comment.The airline spends $25 million annually on broadcast TV ads.American spent just $80,000 in 2005 and about $125,000 through the first seven months of this year to place ads on ABC, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.Those figures, however, do not include local spending or spending on ABC-owned cable properties. (The carrier's outlay across all ABC properties, owned and affiliated, could not be determined, though one source said such spending totals at least $3 million annually.)Roger Frizzell, vice president, corporate communications and advertising, American, confirmed that the client is mulling its legal options, but he did not elaborate.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. 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.Meanwhile, former President Clinton and his advisers remain unhappy with the film. Bruce Lindsey, CEO of the Clinton Foundation, and Douglas J. Band, counselor, wrote yet another letter to Robert Iger, chief at Disney (which owns ABC) today. It concludes:"Having now seen the first night of this fiction, it is clear that the edits made to the film did not address the factual errors that we brought to your attention. 'The Path to 9/11' flagrantly ignored the facts as reported by the 9/11 Commission and invented its own version of history. The result, in our judgment, is irreparable damage to the Commission's work. More importantly, it is a disservice to the American people."That the film directly contradicts the findings of the 9/11 Commission is troubling. That it defames dedicated public officials is tragic. But the fact that it misleads millions of people about the most tragic and consequential event in recent history is disgraceful."—with Editor & Publisher staff reportsThis story updates and replaces an item posted on Sept. 12 with American's confirmation and revised ad spending information.

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American Confirms: Ad Pulls an Option

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