Advertisers careful with new images

ALLISON LINN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Sunday, March 10, 2002

SEATTLE -- Before Sept. 11, the ad campaign for Grove's Dictionaries seemed both whimsical and powerful -- the New York skyline was retouched so that two volumes of the entertainment encyclopedia stood in place of the World Trade Center towers. After Sept. 11, the image was horrifying.

Within days, the advertising agency Partners & Levit had pulled any ads it could and rushed out a new campaign featuring pictures of famous musicians -- and no city shots at all.

"We adopted a totally different concept," Mark Levit said.

In the months since Sept. 11, countless advertisers, TV producers and moviemakers have struggled with how to show the new New York City accurately, without making people wince.

"Our clients had difficulty trying to figure out, 'OK, how are we going to represent New York City now? What does New York City look like now? What does it mean when you're looking at the skyline?' " said Kimber VanRy, a New York City-based research director for Getty Images, a Seattle company that supplies photographs and video footage.

For years, answering those questions was easy. The Manhattan skyline was visual shorthand for New York City and could be seen in magazine ads, movie trailers and television credits.

While many advertisers shied away from New York City altogether in the months after the attacks, many are gradually returning. But instead of using the skyline, many say they are looking at other landmarks, such as Times Square, the Statue of Liberty or the city's bridges.

"I don't think anybody wants to communicate anything that's morose or morbid or down," said Danielle Korn, director of broadcast operations for McCann-Erickson World Group. "With a skyline, you feel the absence of the twin towers."

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