HP pulls astronaut ad after disaster
PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) -- Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard has pulled a popular television advertisement featuring an astronaut's safe homecoming in response to the shuttle disaster.
Palo Alto, California-based HP said Wednesday it withdrew the ad at the weekend after the space shuttle Columbia broke up Saturday killing all seven astronauts on board.
"Out of respect for those lost, we have canceled our 'Explorer' ad," HP spokeswoman Rebeca Robboy said.
Responding the tragedy
The ad concludes with an astronaut in a space suit checking his mailbox, wiping his feet on the doormat, and then walking inside his home. A voice says, "With the help of HP's technology and servers, the world's space agencies can focus on getting their employees home safely."
The second-biggest computer maker after International Business Machines is also removing the space-travel-themed ad from print media and billboards.
In New York's Times Square, HP saluted the memory of the dead astronauts by placing a red, white and blue ribbon across its banner that also features an astronaut.
The company is working quickly to update that location with new images from the campaign, developed by Omnicom Group Inc.'s Goodby Silverstein & Partners of San Francisco. The campaign, on which an estimated $375 million is being spent, is HP's biggest since it completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer last May.
"Meanwhile, despite this tragedy, we remain steadfast in our commitment to assist NASA in its bold efforts to expand the frontiers of knowledge," wrote Chairman and Chief Executive Carly Fiorina in a memo to employees explaining the move.
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