How badly did the ad agency DDB Brazil miscalculate on its new campaign for the World Wildlife Fund?  Badly enough that the WWF says they may sue DDB-B for releasing this print ad without authorization and with their logo prominently featured.  But hey — what sells conservation awareness better than minimizing the mass murder of 3,000 people by terrorists?

“The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.”

Wow!  Sounds like the Earth is the real terrorist.   I propose choking it to death with carbon dioxide!  If we implement cap-and-trade, the really brutal terrorist wins.

Even better than the potential lawsuit from their client is the award DDB-B won from The One Show this year.  Has the “merit” award ever been given to an unauthorized ad that was immediately disowned by the agency’s client?  Maybe DDB-B can pay its legal retainer with their plaque.

Whoever thought of trivializing and commercializing the murders of 3,000 people for an ad campaign about conservation needs to search deep within themselves to determine whether their soul exists.  (via The Corner)

Update: WWF sent me this response, to underscore their unhappiness (which I mention above):

WWF strongly condemns this offensive and tasteless ad and did not authorize its production or publication. It is our understanding that it was a concept offered by an outside advertising agency seeking our business in Brazil. The concept was summarily rejected by WWF and should never have seen the light of day. It is an unauthorized use of our logo and we are aggressively pursuing action to have it removed from websites where it is being currently featured. We strongly condemn the messages and the images portrayed in this ad. On behalf of WWF, here in the US and around the world, we can promise you this ad does not in any way reflect the thoughts and feelings of the people of our organization.

As I noted from the beginning.