Wednesday, February 02, 2000
Reeve TV ad causes a stir
Injured actor will visit Ky.
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When a digitally altered image of paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve “walked” in a Super Bowl commercial Sunday, some TV viewers cheered the spectacle. But others, including some advocates for the disabled in the Tristate, criticized the attention-getting spot, saying it engendered false hopes for an imminent cure for spinal cord injuries.
Mr. Reeve is visiting Kentucky state officials and medical researchers Thursday in a previously scheduled appearance to applaud spinal cord research efforts in the state.
Since the Super Bowl spot, though, he has been addressing the commercial's mixed reviews in interviews and television appearances. He has said the 30-second spot was supposed to raise the public's awareness and hopes about research into spinal cord injuries and neurological diseases.
Voted best ad
In some ways, he succeeded. The commercial was voted the top Super Bowl commercial celebrity cameo by those who answered a survey by Insight Express, an online market research service.
But not everyone was as impressed with the Superman star's walk on.
“On the one hand, having a person with a visible disability speaking in a high-profile position can be a positive thing for the (disabled) community,” said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, representing 54 million Americans with disabilities.
“I would like it better, though, if (Mr. Reeve) would talk more about civil rights for people with disabilities, rather than saying, "I will walk again.'”
In the commercial, the actor — who in 1995 was paralyzed by a horse riding accident — appears to rise from an auditorium seat and walk onto a stage during festivities celebrating a cure. He is joined onstage by others who, presumably, benefited from the research, while an on-camera emcee also boasts about other scientific advancements eradicating AIDs and some types of cancer.
Nuveen, an investment management company in New York, California and Pennsylvania, paid for the costly Super Bowl ad to present “a big message for a small company,” while promoting a worthwhile cause, said Nuveen spokesman Chris Allen.
The reaction has been “mostly positive,” Mr. Allen said. “Hopefully this ad will make you stop and think about what is important in your life.”
Jeff Wilson, an information specialist for the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky who is a quadriplegic, said the commercial made him think he may someday walk again. Mr. Wilson, 37, broke his neck in a 1981 diving accident; now the Covington man is an activist for people with disabilities.
“You have to accept your injury and go on with your life,” Mr. Wilson said. “But I think you never give up the hope. ... Hopefully, with the work that (Mr. Reeve) is doing, someday there's going to be a cure.”
Feelings mixed
That day could be far off, cautioned Melanie Bradle, manager of inpatient therapies at Drake Center Inc., a rehabilitation center serving patients throughout the Tristate. Ms. Bradle said she had mixed emotions about the Reeve ad.
“My first reaction was, "Wow, if it could just be ... ' Then I thought about (the) patients and what they might think,” she said.
“I thought it might send the wrong message to people, that there is some kind of cure out there.”
There are some advances.
Last week scientists in Europe and the United States said they identified a gene that prevents the brain and spinal cord from rewiring themselves after an injury, possibly signaling new treatments to help people like Mr. Reeve. But while neurologists hail the work as a landmark step, they caution that other factors may inhibit nerve regrowth.
“I think there's a chance something could happen in (Mr. Reeve's) lifetime,” Ms. Bradle said. “But applying that to human subjects, and doing clinical trials takes a long time.”
Some spinal cord patients and their families don't realize that, said Thomas H. Countee Jr., executive director and CEO of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association in Maryland.
False hopes feared
“After the commercial aired, we had some people call who said, "Where can I go to get my daughter into a program that will help her walk, too?'” Mr. Countee said.
Adam Collinsworth, a 22-year-old Taylor Mill man who was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1998 diving accident, said he was initially inspired by the ad. “But once you realized what it was all about, the ad kind of gave you false hope,” he said. “It just really kind of upset me.”
Still, others say Mr. Reeve should refocus his efforts on helping others cope with disabilities and accept his own.
“How many people live in houses where there are no
ramps or no doors that open for them? He's got money, so that he can make things as accessible as they can possibly be,” said Carol McElfresh, a secretary who has been blind since birth. She works for the executive director for the Disabilities Coalition of Northern Kentucky.
Mr. Reeve acknowledged in a nationally televised interview Monday that he has been criticized for his optimism that he will walk again. But he insisted in a statement issued through Nuveen that the commercial “is something that can actually hap pen.”
Even the controversy can be a good thing, added Mr. Countee, of the national spinal cord injury group.
“On balance, I think that the ad certainly brought attention, even if it's in the form of controversy, to the issues of spinal cord injury and spinal cord research,” Mr. Countee said.
“Hopefully, people will lobby Congress to put more dollars into spinal cord research.”
On Thursday, Mr. Reeve's appearance will encourage that. He will address the Kentucky General Assembly and meet privately with Gov. Paul Patton. Then he will speak with researchers in Kentucky.
Since the establishment of the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Board in 1994, more than $5 million in grants has been awarded for 33 spinal cord and head injury research projects at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.
“He's basically coming to thank us for Kentucky's efforts in the field of spinal cord and head injury research,” said Mark Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the governor.
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