| Written by AE911Truth Staff |
| Thursday, 10 October 2013 |
ReThink911 caused the greatest stir of its September 2013 campaign in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, where 300 ads appeared on local buses from early September to early October asking riders, “Did you know a 3rd tower fell on 9/11?”
ReThink911 ads in Ottawa buses like this one received unprecedented attention from media sources across Canada
The controversy first erupted on the night of September 11, when coverage of the campaign appeared on the CBC and Ottawa Citizen websites. Both articles quoted Ottawa City Councilor and Transit Commission Chair Diane Deans, who called the ads “insensitive” and indicated that she would request a review of Ottawa’s advertising policy. In-depth reporting on ReThink911’s message by the Ottawa Citizen included a quote from Frank Wilson, the general manager of ad broker Pattison Outdoor, who affirmed that the ads conformed to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. “Everyone has a right to question whatever they want to,” he said. “I don’t think you need to be embroiled in conspiracy theory to wonder why… that at the end of the day this building just suddenly came down.”
By the next morning, the airwaves were abuzz with debate about the bus ads. One radio station, 1310 News, posted a survey on its website that asked readers, “Should the ads from ‘ReThink911′ be allowed on OC Transpo buses?” More than 90% responded “yes.” By later that morning, articles on Yahoo News and Huffington Post also mentioned the ads in Toronto and Vancouver. The Huffington Post was the most senselessly derisive, cherry picking the tweets of two angry onlookers who described a country in “outrage.” Yahoo News was much more balanced in its coverage.
