Most Controversial Ad of the Year?

I have a visceral reaction of disgust whenever I see this ad by the World Wildlife Fund, though I can’t exactly explain why.

Tasteless or powerful? What’s your verdict?

Whatever you think about the visual imagery, the message—”The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it”—seems to be a non sequitur. What exactly is the point? Nature is like terrorism so give us money to preserve it?

Update : In the comments section, Jeffrey Overstreet points out that the U.S. chapter of WWF doesn’t like the ad either:

For what it’s worth, the ad has surprised even the World Wildlife Fund people, and they’re condemning it too. NBC reports that the ad “is credited to agency DDB Brasil for WWF-Brazil — but ran in Israel, of all places. A representative for the US headquarters of WWF said they had been unaware of the offensive poster until today.”

Read more about it here .