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May 20, 2005/Iyar 11 5765, Volume 57, No. 38
Photograph faux pas
Wal-Mart ad stirs controversy in Flagstaff; company apologizes
BENJAMIN LEATHERMAN
Special to Jewish News
A photo of a Nazi book burning, part of a recent full-page advertisement in a Flagstaff newspaper, sparked a flurry of controversy.
The advertisement, which was funded by Wal-Mart in connection with a municipal election, attracted nationwide media attention and prompted numerous calls to the Arizona office of the Anti-Defamation League.
The ad, which ran in the Arizona Daily Sun on May 6 and 8, featured a 1933 photo of a bonfire of burning books at Berlin's Opernplatz and urged Flagstaff's residents to vote against Proposition 100, a ballot measure that would place size limits and other restrictions on new "big box" retail stores such as Lowe's and Wal-Mart.
But despite the negative publicity, voters narrowly rejected the measure by approximately 51 percent to 49 percent, at the May 17 election.
"Should we let government tell us what we can read?" the text underneath the photo asked. "Of course not. We can read whatever we choose because of the limits the Constitution places on government's ability to restrict our freedoms. So why should we allow local government to limit where we shop? Or how much of a store's floor space can be used to sell groceries?"
Protect Flagstaff's Future, a political action committee opposing Proposition 100 and funded mainly by Wal-Mart, paid for the ad, which was created by Phoenix-based consultant agency HighGround, Inc.
Tom Farley, a campaign consultant for PFF, declined to comment, referring all calls to HighGround and stating PFF wasn't involved with the production or placement of the ad.
"HighGround was hired by Wal-Mart, and (they) made a mistake in purchasing that particular photo and placing the ad with the Daily Sun," Farley said.
HighGround president Chuck Coughlin said the ad was one of four advertisements promoting the PFF's theme of preventing government limiting "freedoms worth keeping," such as free speech and worship. The company was looking for a generic book-burning photo to use, and downloaded the image it used from the Web site of Corbis, a stock image catalog.
Due to a hectic "production crunch," HighGround was unable to research the photo's historical context, Coughlin said.
On the Corbis Web site, however, the photo is clearly titled, "Nazis Burning Anti-German Literature in 1933."
Daphne Moore, Wal-Mart's director of community affairs, said the ad was OK'd "without the knowledge of the historical context of the picture. It certainly doesn't make things right, but when it was approved, the individual approving it did not know where the photo came from."
Jay Allen, Wal-Mart's vice president of corporate communications, issued a letter of apology May 13 to the ADL and "anyone who was offended."
The PFF issued its own letter, stating it did not "intend to trivialize the Holocaust or the incredible sacrifices made by so many," and it regretted that "the image we used offended some of those who have sacrificed so much."
Both Coughlin and Moore said steps will be taken to prevent a similar incident from reoccurring.
"I think our sensitivities have been raised to the level that can guarantee it'll never happen here again," Coughlin said.
Bill Straus, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the ADL began receiving complaints on May 13, when the issue broke in the Phoenix-area and national media. The Associated Press, the Washington Post and myriad television stations and newspapers and Internet blogs picked up the story.
Straus said he spoke extensively with representatives from both Wal-Mart and HighGround, including Moore and Coughlin, who "called me before I had a chance to call him."
"They were extremely responsive in the sense that I didn't have to convince anyone that the use of the photograph was offensive, and they wanted to do the right thing," Straus said. "I absolutely think that Wal-Mart and the Protect Flagstaff Future group made a mistake, and they obviously do, too."
Allen Ginsberg, president of Flagstaff synagogue Heichal Baoranim, believes it was simply a mistake on the PFF's part.
"I think the intent of the ad wasn't against Jewish people or wasn't to offend the Jewish people. I know the people that ran the ad and I know it was just poor judgment on their part," he said. "If we can't forgive, then what can we do?"
Ginsberg added that he felt the issue was being blown out of proportion by the national media and that no one from his congregation had contacted him to complain about the ad.
But Straus said he received complaints from members of Flagstaff's Jewish community and the story was of great interest to the local media.
"It was a bigger deal in the (Arizona Daily Sun) than it was anywhere else," Straus said.
Benjamin Leatherman is a freelance writer in Tempe.
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