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NEW
YORK (AP) FedEx Corp. has pulled its "Wizard of Oz'' commercial
that debuted on the Super Bowl after hearing complaints that it may
give youngsters the impression that it was okay to "huff'' inhalants.
The commercial mixed clips from the movie classic with images of a FedEx
truck delivering helium-filled balloons to three Munchkins whose voices
inexplicably sank as they serenaded the newly arrived Dorothy. Their
high pitch is restored after they inhale helium from the balloons.
Spokeswoman Carla Boyd said the Memphis-based delivery company pulled
the ad from the planned commercial rotation on Feb. 14 after it had
been running for about two weeks. She said its ad agency is looking
"at possibilities for revising the spot.''
"We had some individuals contact us and we want to be responsive
to our customers,'' she said, declining to be specific about the number
of complaints.
Among those who asked that the ad be withdrawn was Harvey Weiss, director
of the National Inhalant Prevention Council, a Texas-based organization
that works to discourage the practice of "huffing'' inhalants to
get high.
Weiss said his group began getting calls and messages about the ad soon
after it was shown on the Super Bowl telecast on Jan. 30.
"They felt it sent the wrong message to young people that it was
okay to huff and was fun to huff and to put some sort of gas into your
body,'' he said.
He said he called FedEx the next day and asked that the ad be pulled.
He said he considered it a "courageous decision on their part to
pull it'' given how much the company had probably invested in creating
and running the ad.
It cost an average $2.2 million just to run a 30-second ad on the Super
Bowl. FedEx wouldn't disclose what it cost to produce the commercial.
Boyd said FedEx had consulted with national health and toxicology officials
before making the commercial and was assured that helium was not a drug
and was nontoxic and that it posed no health threat.
"We are just waiting for our ad agency to come back to us,'' she
said, adding there was no timetable for making a decision on what to
do with the ad.
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