High School Bullying And Controversial Ads Recall 9/11

If you think it was bad when CNN ran a headline titled “[Where’s Obama]?” with a picture of Osama, then imagine the hardship a boy who shares he terrorist's name must experience on a daily basis. “I thought you were in the back of a cave somewhere,” a gym teacher said to Osama Al-Najjar, 16, at Tottenville High School. Comments like this one and others referring to Al-Najjar as bin Laden or bin Laden’s son made by various school employees combined with bullying by his fellow students eventually led Al-Najjar to consider suicide. Instead, he and his family have [filed a lawsuit](http://www.nypost.com/seven/06112007/news/regionalnews/tale_of_2_osamas_regionalnews_stefanie_cohen.htm) in Brooklyn federal court claiming that he was the victim of racial and religious discrimination, and the school officials did nothing about it. In short, the suit charges that Al-Najjar was terrorized on school grounds.

Meanwhile, the relatives of some 9/11 victims are livid over a series of subway insurance ads for Marsh & McLennan Companies that seem to depict a reflection of the Twin Towers in the models’ eyes. Last month, [The New York Times] ran a story on the multi-million dollar campaign dubbed, “Find the Upside.” Joseph B. Treaster wrote that the slogan did not have to do with accusations of rigging bids and taking kickbacks from insurance companies—both of which apparently were possibilities—but was novel in breaking the mold of using fear to sell coverage. He did not mention that it was a reference to the 2001 terrorist attacks.

But now that you mention it...The ads depicts six faces, all of which contain twin beams of light in their eyes, and the words, “There’s Another Side of Risk,” printed beneath. The [New York Post] spoke with The Clare Agency, which represents photographer Martin Schoeller: “The two beams of light themselves are created with a special lighting technique that Martin utilizes for most of his portrait work. Any other statement indicating otherwise would be false and inaccurate.” That’s right folks; it’s your traumatized psyche that’s reading too much into it, and not at all the intention of ad execs.