A T & T Ad - Fall of Berlin Wall - 1989

[astroshou]

Ronald Reagan:

YOUR HISTORICAL PHRASE:

"Mr. Gorbachov, Tear down this wall".

Su Frase Historica:

“Mr.Gorbachov, Tire ya (abajo) ese muro”

Great, Great Man.

Beautiful Video.

[hildegarde07]

One of Germany's most defining moments....

[MiaSays]

Want to see me cry? Show me this video. I'll never forget my dad's (who is from Germany) reaction when the wall came down.

[jamreid]

That was a wonderful moment in history. There has been a great deal of talk about it today on the 20th Anniversary, which is important.

[jettepaetz]

As much as I like this ad, but there is one thing that at&t did not consider when they made this ad ... most people in the former East did not have a phone! And the ones who had one were party members or members of the STASI ... or ... in other words ... it was mostly the "bad guys" who had phone - the ones who would have least liked the wall to come down ... . Anyway, HAPPY REUNIFICATION DAY TO ALL MY FELLOW CITIZENS!

[johnnysama]

Awesome ad. :)

[floridaboy44]

Great commercial! It really reminds me of how amazing it was to see the Berlin Wall fall, and Germany reunite. That was one of the greatest events in my lifetime. That one guy sounds so happy to have finally gotten to see his sister.

[devulboy1]

Last post: The fall of the Berlin Wall was the strongest event for Europe in the 20th century other than beginnings & endings of the world wars. In European countries, it's sometimes called "our 9/11" or in their calendar: 9th of Nov. 1989 signifies a major change in the sociopolitical scene of European life. I can imagine AT&T, Benetton, & Pizza Hut Russia TV ads starred Mikhail Gorbachev to participate in these events, but never our 9/11 (I live in the US) to sadly changed us the same way. +

[devulboy1]

At the time, not since the 1960's liberal trend in the Western world, the late '80s was the same worldwide: a massive call in all 6 continents for freedom, social reform, international unity, democracy and peace accords to replace tyrannical authoritarianism: "Solidarity" in Poland, Glasnost" and "Perestroika" in the USSR, the Tiananmen square protests, end of Apartheid, peace in the Middle east, racial multiculturalism, etc.+

[devulboy1]

I was 9 years old when I seen the Berlin wall taken down on TV (CNN?), and my fascination with maps & geography as a little kid, to watch two similar countries to join together is actually a very positive thing for all of mankind, after 45 years of the "cold war" fiasco has came to an abrupt end without a shot ever fired.

AT&T and a similar ad by Pepsi on here, corporations took "socially responsible" advantage of the fall of communism, the end of apartheid & support for the gulf war in 1991.+

[DTanza]

Ich Bin Ein Berliner!

[gniewekcj]

Es lebe ein vereintes Deutschland! Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit!

mfg aus Österreich!

[Chadoh21]

God Bless Germany!

[RowanAthikson]

I nearly crying.

Thank god they unite.

[altfratuben]

Berlin Wall: 28 years waisted on shit. Communism is shit. And should be flushed out in the toilet together with the creeps that thinks it is fantastic. And then the rest of us could breath some fresh air. They killed people who wanted to see other parts of the world. That is evil. And only shitbrains are stuck in communistic thinking.

[GodBlessNess]

Communism: Good on paper, utterly piss-poor in execution.

[jordibross]

god bless the communism ..... i hope the american goverment falls in peaces you fucking bunch of idiots...you live for monye ...but you know what 200 million people are hunngry and starving because of you fuckin americans you are the worst peace of shit in the whole world ....and your fucking president ..( if you can call him that way) is an asshole i hope he spend his last days suffering in a bed and sucking a fat cock for the rest of his life

[youtub1111]

i thought communists like you didn't believe in God. It's great to see freedom hating evil rodents like you defeated over and over again.

[SebastianEngland]

Gee,jordi-o, interesting comments. funnier still how like half of your favourites on your profile are US films and things such as that. say what you want about the yanks, they saved my town in second war, that's a big debt to them. george bush is the killer, not yanks.

[jordibross]

dude im just trying to say....you are right bush is the killer....but you need a bunch of idiots to elect him!! but you need 300 million of idiots to re-elect him....check it out im a mexican and most of americans think we sill ride donkeys...dude they are just stupid...i supose you are from eangland thats cool buta americans are just a pice of shit and they think they are the kings of the world but they are just some fags ....see you dude

[chicoman27]

Its not your business, whether you care United States. Mexico Is of shit who tries come over the u.s illegal!

[yurimorena]

if you are going to start on that road, who was here first. im sick of people putting down everyone who come in to the USA, if the indians had borders... if they cared about citizenship, wouldn't they have been considered illegals? it was a matter of taking advantage of people that didn't consider that one day, they would loose so much, their own existense in this case, because they didn't set boundaries, yes people from other countries come here, they are just following the example... Ty.

[JeovaNeto]

Fuck Communism !

[DTanza]

God bless Berlin.

[crazygrrl89]

No one starves in Cuba?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[jmathew84]

Nothing like a bunch of idiots on the internet discussing the tenets of communism versus capitalism.

Why don't you find a legitimate outlet for your profound insights into government and the human condition instead of a video on youtube about a commercial that was aired 20 years ago.

[AmbientMusic]

Oh God! What Nerve! Crass Commercialism at it's worst. If the Communists had won, ATT would have spun it the other way. They don't give a SHIT about anything but MONEY!

[freivolk]

It´s sad that good ideals ended in that way.

Now they might be better, but what about the rest of the world? Why don´t you look at the third world for example...I´m shure AT&T was this happy when they support the coup regime in Chile (1973)

[bracsim]

GOOD IDEALS, you call comunism good ideals when all they do is put people in jails if they think different, you can not mention the words HUMAN RIGHTS because you end up in jail, is that GOOD IDEALS, come on man, I know both parts really well, comunism and capitalism, If I have to choose I stay here in USA where at least I know Im free, no country is perfect, no body is perfect, but there aint nothing like USA , trust me on that. GOD BLESS FREEDOM, GOD BLESS USA, STOP EVIL COMUNISM FOREVER.

[freivolk]

You´re right when you say that there´s no perfect country or system. And the "socialist states" have done many wrong things. But I think that communism is NOT evil. I´m sure that combined with freedom and democracy it could be really improved. But c´mon! There´s a LOT of "evil" stuff in ours "free countries"... And by the way, I don´t think God exists anyway...

[FasterThanYou321]

Communism and all forms of collectivism ARE evil because they must forcefully altar basic human nature. If you think communism s not evil, perhaps you have never lived under communist rule. You cannot altar human nature. We want to achieve and be rewarded for our efforts - not to have to work hard and then share our reward with those who have done nothing. You are a sad, brainwashed individual. You have no idea of the value of the freedom you have.

[Skoda130]

But why has that combination never existed anywhere?

[rrp1993]

there has: Sweden, Canada, etc...

[TheTrooper506]

Lol at Western corporations taking advantage of the falling government in the East.

[bracsim]

The same way comunist rusia was taking advantage of poor citizen in eastern europe, teh only diference is that now they are free.

[ruhri0411]

Part 2:

They went to the wall and at the end they forced the border police to open the wall!!

You can see that historic press conference here on youtube, just use the name of the unlucky communist guy "schabowski" the press conference starts at 0:49

[ruhri0411]

Part 1:

Do you know the true story of the fall oft the Berlin Wall? It was a big mistake made by an east German politician named günter schabowski. He announced at a press conference on 9th of Novembre 1989 that people from east Germany are allowed to travel to the west. He wasn't authorized to announce this, tens of thousands east berliners watched this press conference on west german tv.

[Omithy]

This ad is the epitome of the very corrupt nature of capitalism. This ad explains why I despise free market economics and Adam Smith principles. At least when socialism rips you off, it's your own government doing it. Once the state withers away and corporations are let loose, you get ripped off in a whole different way. The very nature of capitalism is the exploitation of human weakness and tragedy.

[bracsim]

You wanna see tragedy, go to Cuba and see what comunism have done there for almost 50 years, people get pay about 3 dollars a month, the goverment tells you what to eat and how much you can it, they have what they call CDR Comite of defense of the Revolucion nothing but a few comunists watching you 24 hours a day, isnt that tragedy.

[Omithy]

Yes, that is a tragedy as well. And if AT&T and other telephone corporate crooks were to ever take advantage of that situation, I would scorn them just as viciously as I have now.

Dictatorial governments are bad, but so are private corporations.

[edbrown100]

No one starves in Cuba... They send more doctors to 'Doctors w/o Borders' per capita than ANY other country... there is no vast disparity. China is communist & America has no problem w/ her. Cuban Jews HATED the fact that Castro nationlalized businesses & they couldn't bilk the population, so they move to Miami and insist the US marginalize Cuba supposedly for communism. US has more homeless per capita than Cuba. Man, get outta here.

[crazygrrl89]

Hey American... Go to Cuba. All you need do is go to Canada and then fly to Havana. But you are nothing but a fat hot air bag sitting in your big house.

Go to Cuba!

[eyeofhebeholder1]

Omithy: I so completely agree w/ you. We can elect new politicians, but when we are ruled by and at the mercy of CEOs and phantom boards of directors, we have absolutely no say. Americans blindly stand up for privatization & capitalism having no real idea of what the world is about. Capitalism is corporate dictatorship. Communism is political dictatorship. I prefer socialist democracies. Most Americans think Communism is socialism.

[crazygrrl89]

I have something to say to these idiots here that blame the USA for everything. I am from Ukraine, just go look at the conditions people live in there while you sit, fat and plump, in your warms houses.

My mother told me when she heard that even East Germany had collapsed, she knew the end of the Soviet Union was near. God Bless the United States of America and God punish the oppressors in Cuba, Russia, and North Korea.

[rrp1993]

God bless america? Those pigs have oppressed my people the puerto ricans-it sucks-they use our people to fight their wars and use police brutality on us-welfare has completeley messed up our infrastructure and has created an economic dependence. that is how we pay for being a colony-to hell with USA!

[devulboy1]

Not only Puerto Ricans questions their association with the US government, so are Native American Indians and African Americans still cope with the legacy of slavery, segregation & discrimination.

The fall of the Berlin wall symbolized a new world order was taking place in the late 80s/early 90s, today not only Berlin & Germany are reunited, there's now the European Union, NAFTA, China turns into a capitalistic economy and the third world overlaps the first (i.e. the US-Mexican border). +

[rnman99]

I never saw the ad - I was there when it happened :D

[DisturbedBunny]

I feel like such a dork...crying over an AT&T Ad...but being first Gen German American...i can't help it!

[feastguy101]

its cool... i ain't german or american and it brought tears to my eyes.

[andruchina]

A wall is not a symbol of hate? The Gaza strip, the wall between Mexico and the U.S. is not hate? It's unnatural for humans to create walls. We all have two eyes, two arms, we have lots of things in common, we all feel pain and happiness. Walls are there to make us think we are different from each other, they are caprices of ignorant, close minded politicians and people. "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, that wants it down" wrote Robert Frost. I couldn't agree more.

[feastguy101]

those walls and berlin's have a vital difference; they're not for stopping people from getting out, they're for stopping people from getting in.

[ixFUhKTxURxGRL]

the Berlin wall was built by the Soviet Union to keep east berliners from escaping to the west.

[waitandbleedagan12]

the wall they want to build between the US and Mexico is not a symbol of hate. They dont want illegals sneaking in over the border. I dont want them doing it either. They can get in the regular way like everyone else does.

[tic1220]

I couldn't agree more! I'm glad someone said it...

[strandedbuckeye]

I was in high school at the time - it taught us a lot about the history

[belkinfan]

I was sitting in my dorm room at Ohio State watching with guys from my floor - it was a great moment in history - we need more moments like this.

[emmaliini]

Beautiful :)

[Juliacc28]

I know it's a commercial but I cried, when the girls handed flowers to soilders on the wall...I just lost it. The U.S. is trying to build a wall between us and Mexico. I've always been so grateful that I was old enough to comprehend the falling, no, the tearing down of the Berlin wall and feel pride in my fellow humans. How ashamed I will be of my fellow Americans if I see one another symbol of hate go up.

[feastguy101]

"eventually every wall falls" (written on the berlin wall)

[ixFUhKTxURxGRL]

great wall of china never really came down most of its still up

[guy0307]

A. China is one country today

B. You can go from one said to the other

[bilelulabula]

pup on you

[edbrown100]

ich bin ein berliner. oops, i mean, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall! ;-)

[youtub1111]

That has to be the greatest commercial of all time...

[youtub1111]

One of the greatest commercials of all time.

[TLMcutie622]

We need more great moments like this - now would be a great time - especially if the "mainstream" media actually covers it.

[gabyflo]

unfortunately, the history tends to repeat, in a new way, this is happening again between usa and mexico... people in the world should be together not isolated

[tic1220]

We're not isolating ourselves from Mexico - people vacation there all the time (I love Cancun and would love to visit more...) If individuals would like to come here legally, the more the merrier - it's only fair to all of those who do go through that process...but sneaking across should be discouraged for the safety of the people involved and the security of the US...

[gabyflo]

I do agree... it happens every were... foreing people with out jobs... they can steal or even kill for a piece of bread... my city was more safe before people of other states came here to find a better opportunity... that's sad... they have to leave everything to find nothing but famine and poverty

[olipilley]

even thogh my country had nothing to do with the fall of the wall ie the uk i felt proud of my fellow eurpopens and very emtional even then aged just ten

[redmustang03]

Just to see all those happy people is a wonderful sight.

[agaaa84]

it must have been a great moment of joy:)

[downforze]

unforgotten moments, 4h rushour from east to westgermany. my first drive to freedom.

[JMReid1220]

Thanks for sharing that moment... it was a great day for everyone who loves freedom...

[DisturbedBunny]

I am so proud that I was able to be there when that monster came down.Though I was young I can remember everyone crying and hugging strangers in the street.

[mcny1971]

I was born one day after the fall of the wall! on november 10th 1989!

[welcometothesuck]

this is absolutely inapropriate!!!! you CANT use events like that to sell or promote things!!!!

[JMReid1220]

In principle, I agree with you. However, the execution of this spot is so beautifully done and this was such a positive moment in history that I give them a pass. That and the essence of the message is about bringing families together and helping people communicate, which is a very good thing.

You'll also notice that AT&T is only on screen for mere seconds, so they (and their ad agency) were obviously sensitive to the event.

[jimjimblund]

1989 the II war ended and the century 1900 ended as i didnt start until 1918,-it was short and messy.

[aminakoyum]

woow I remember the day perfectly, I had some family living in Hamburg at that time. WooW . Thank you

[jamreid]

what a great ad! I don't remember this one! Thanks!

[tic1220]

Wow - I remember that footage - great!