Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 20, 1993 TAG: 9307200503
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The ad features a photo of Civil War re-enactors standing on a smoky battlefield. The headline proclaims, "More People Have Fought Over Virginia Than Any Other State in America."
The advertisement, placed in periodicals and Civil War journals, is intended to capitalize on Virginia's dozens of battlefields and other Civil War sites.
But the ad's wording suggests it may also be capitalizing on the public's fascination with the macabre.
"No other state saw more action. Nowhere was the fighting more fierce," the copy states. "More than 100,000 soldiers fell at four sites around Fredericksburg. Seven-thousand fell at Cold Harbor in 20 horrible minutes."
"That's not what our visitors ask about," said George Church, assistant superintendent of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, which administers the four battlefields.
"They are more interested in `Is this where it really happened?' and not about someone getting blown away by a cannonball. You never get those kind of questions."
Visitors, even the young, are generally respectful and some are unexpectedly moved by gazing on the scene of such carnage, Church said.
"We call it hallowed ground for a reason," he said.
Bruce Twyman, director of advertising for the state Department of Economic Development, which oversees the tourism office, said, "I think everybody here has a sensitivity to Virginia's past and we wouldn't do anything to damage Virginia's reputation. We think our ads are in fact tasteful and we hope the public views them that way, too."
Virginia battlefields already are a big tourist draw, especially since the wildly popular 1990 Public Broadcasting Service series "The Civil War."
The state Division of Tourism estimates that in the 15 months following the series, visits to war-related sites increased 5 percent to about 9 million. That does not translate to 9 million tourists, because people typically visit more than one Civil War site on their trip, said Mark Brown, research director for the tourism office.
Virginia draws about 40 million tourists annually. Battlefields are by far the most popular Civil War tourist attractions.
The ad is part of a series showcasing Virginia historical sites and events. The ads are intended to put history in emotional terms, much as the PBS series did, Twyman said.
Other ads in the series feature George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
But despite the Civil War ad's emphasis on history, the ad copy takes some historical liberties.
After reciting the body count from some Virginia battles, the ad suggests that the soldiers died for the love of Virginia.
"Once you've seen our majestic Blue Ridge Mountains and our warm, sandy beaches, you'll understand what all the fuss was about," the ad states.
There is no mention of the historical underpinnings of the war - slavery, state's rights, expanding industrialism. And a large percentage of those killed in Virginia had no connection to the state. They were Union troops from places like New York and Connecticut and Confederate troops from Mississippi and Georgia.
"The last time I checked, what we were doing was advertising. We never claimed to be writing a history book," Twyman said. The ad isn't intentionally misleading, but "admittedly we are taking some license to make it relevant," to potential tourists, Twyman said.
In the photo, the soldiers hold a Virginia flag and a Confederate one, bolstering the idea that Virginia natives were fighting for their state.
"Did they maybe go a step too far? I can't begin to say what's in an advertising copywriter's mind, but I'll tell you there are Civil War experts out there who will write to them and correct them on the smallest point," said Karen Hedelt, director of the Fredericksburg Visitors Center.
by CNB