Is this the worst football ad ever?

I know it was 50 years ago, but the ad above, which apparently¹I say that because I have not been able to independently find it, though someone posted it on Facebook. ran in Birmingham, Alabama newspapers this week in 1974, might be one of the most insensitive, head-scratching, tone-deaf….just terrible examples of advertising I’ve ever seen.

Scene-set: One of the World Football League’s 12 original teams was the Birmingham Americans. On August 14, 1974, the Americans hosted The Hawaiians²Not the Honolulu Hawaiians, just…The Hawaiians. That was their name., and whoever was handling advertising for the home team thought a Pearl Harbor callback would be appropriate for a game against a team from Hawaii.

“ON AUGUST 14TH, IT’S PEARL HARBOR ALL OVER AGAIN! EXCEPT THIS TIME THE AMERICANS ATTACK THE HAWAIIANS.”

There are two bomb references in the poorly worded (and even more poorly formatted) copy, but the headline and general theme are the real dud here.

Who thought this was a good idea? Was it Pat Quillan, listed in the Americans’ media guide as their Marketing Director? Was it Director of Publicity Mike Merrill? Surely more than one person had to see that before it hit the papers, right?

(Incidentally, 32 Alabamians died on board the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941.)

The Americans won the game, 39-0, to improve to 6-0 on the young season, but the ad likely had nothing to do with it. The Hawaiians were just 1-5 after the game in Birmingham and finished 9-11.