Open season on Occupy Wall Street?
A man who identified himself as Brendan Watts is seen with blood on his face while surrounded by three police officers in Zuccotti Park on November 17, 2011, in New York City. A fight broke out between protesters affiliated with Occupy Wall Street and police, in which Watts was injured.
So is it okay to make fun of Occupy Wall Street now?
That's the provocative and interesting question the DealBook blog is asking today.
It's easy to see why, after viewing this commercial for Interactive Brokers.
Here's how DealBook puts it:
The commercial, which has been shown repeatedly on CNBC, adopts the imagery of Zuccotti Park to hawk Interactive Brokers’ trading services, and ends with the tagline: “Join The One Percent.”
And here's the actual clip, which signals a different and much more aggressive tone than what we were hearing from most on Wall Street just a few short months ago:
The spot, with its odd stick figures and cheesy music, isn't likely to win a CLIO Award anytime soon.
But it does raise an interesting question about the current public perceptions of the Occupy movement, and the important issue of economic inequality that's sure to be a theme of the upcoming presidential election.
Here's my take on that larger point.
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