360fly “Trump wall” ad rejected by media houses

(Image Courtesy 360fly.)
(Image Courtesy 360fly.)

California-based 360-degree camera startup, 360fly, released a satirical ad Thursday featuring a Donald Trump look-alike, a big wall, and what many saw as insensitive stereotypes of Mexican immigrants.

The ad was accepted by DIRECTV, FOX News, local FOX LA, but was rejected by NBC, Viacom, ABC LA, LACBS, LAABC, and other media houses. According 360fly, the ad was rejected because the outlets wanted to be politically neutral and sensitive to ethnic communities.

The company denied accusations that the ad was racist.

“Prior to launching the spot, we conducted focus groups, and the outcome was that 90 percent loved it and thought it was hysterical, 9 percent were neutral and 1 percent didn’t like it,” 360fly CEO Peter Adderton told Hypergrid Business.

The setting is in a desert, at the foot of a newly-constructed border wall, where a Trump impersonator is giving a speech to celebrate the construction, claiming that the wall is “impenetrable” — while a 360fly camera shows Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders look-a-likes assisting Mexican immigrants emerge from a tunnel under the wall.

The video ad carries the message “Get a broader perspective. Miss Nothing” and asks Americans to have a broader perspective on politics, just like the 360 degree camera does. The ad promotes the new $499 360fly 360-degree 4K camera and was created by 180LA, directed by Mike Maguire and the production spot was handled by MJZ, while filming was done by renowned cinematographer Bob Richardson. The camera has a new image sensor and manages 2880 by 2880 pixels, 4 times resolution than the original 360fly HD camera. Users can pair it with a free iOS or Android application to shoot, edit and share 360 degree content on social media.

“Overall, the spot is designed to draw a parallel between the narrow and singular focus that politics drives so many people to adopt — oftentimes perpetuating negative stereotypes and perceptions — with the singular and narrow focus the video camera industry has limited consumers to, prior to the advent of immersive 360-degree video and virtual reality technology,” said Adderton. “Now, with 360fly’s immersive 360-degree video camera, consumers can go beyond capturing only what’s in front of them, and instead, broaden their perspective and miss nothing by capturing literally everything around them.”

Watch the ad below: