9/11 kin rip 'evil eyes' ad

from new york post: A series of subway ads from an insurance company that lost nearly 300 employees on 9/11 has some victims' relatives up in arms, because the models in the photos appear to have the Twin Towers reflected in their eyes.

"I was just livid," said Valerie Montgomery, 53, after seeing what she believes to be a reference to the towers in the ads by Marsh, the giant risk and insurance arm of Marsh & McLennan Cos. "I took a look at the picture, and I thought, 'What the hell is this?' What's wrong with them?" added Montgomery, whose brother-in-law, Marsh & McLennan Assistant Vice President Joseph Mangano, died on 9/11.

Marsh's ads, part of a multimillion-dollar campaign dubbed "Find the Upside," are on display in city subways and buses and also have appeared in national newspapers.

In them, the words "There's Another Side of Risk" appear underneath the eyes of six models. Bracketing the pupils of all of the eyes are twin beams of light evocative of the WTC's iconic, fallen towers, where 295 Marsh employees died.

"I thought, 'What else could they be trying to depict?'" said Evelyn Zelmanowitz, 68, a Brooklyn woman whose brother-in-law, Abe Zelmanowitz, died in a tower when he refused to leave behind a quadriplegic co-worker.

Asked whether the Twin Towers effect was intentional, Marsh & McLennan said, "At best, the suggestion is wrong and absurd, and at worst, it is irresponsible and despicable."

The Clare Agency, which represents photographer Martin Schoeller, who took the ads' photos, said, "The two beams of light themselves are created with a special lighting technique that Martin utilizes for most of his portrait work. Any other statement indicating otherwise would be false and inaccurate."