Pacific231G Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I have just seen a Specsavers advert which features the Space Shuttle returning to the wrong place. Although I have seen this advert before, am I alone in thinking that showing it today is in extremely bad taste? Today marks the 10th anniversary of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. I didn't see any bad taste in it at all and the nature of the joke is actually a respect of the shuttle's crews because we know that they simply would never be in the situation of needing better glasses. The other joke is not mocking the shuttle but counterpointing an ultimate symbol of human and engineering achievement with the mundane reality of mass air transport. Two shuttles were lost in accidents but the five shuttles made 133 successful flights including the launch and repair of Hubble and building the ISS. We remember the Wright brothers for their achievement of controlled powered flight not for the passenger who died in an early accident and we celebrate Stephenson's Rocket as the first "modern" steam loco not for it's running over of Huskisson. If you want to boycott businesses I can think of far more deserving candidates that do real harm in the world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 We are all assuming Geoff wears spectacles. I don't. Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 Not only that, but it is extremely unlikely that someone who may have a genuine reason to be upset or offended, would actually have seen the advert. What are the chances of any Americans that may have been badly emotionally affected by the accidents actually seeing it? I expect this ad is not screened in America, so they would have to have been visiting the UK and coincidentally watching UK TV at the time! Yet another case of someone deciding they have the right to be offended on someone elses behalf, without even establishing if that person might be offended in the first place... What are the chances that someone who worked with people who lost friends on that flight saw the advert? But then I did, didn't I? Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 What are the chances that someone who worked with people who lost friends on that flight saw the advert? But then I did, didn't I? Geoff Endacott Sorry to hear that, Geoff, I didn't realise you had a personal reason to be upset by the advert. I'm sure previous posters of comments on this thread would not have made that assumption either. It's possibly as well that this thread was locked now. You have my sympathy. I'm sure you would rather remember your friend in better ways than through an ad for a high street chain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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