FWD.us, Mark Zuckerberg's political action group that is aiming to help spur immigration reform, has just released a new ad they hope will be an inspirational calling for "influencers" and "dreamers" to see America's booming tech industry as a new land of opportunity. But they changed the words of one of America's most beloved poems to do so.
Zuck says the new FWD.us ad shows "how passing reform is our chance to keep America a magnet for the world's brightest and hardest working people." In a classic black-and-white style, the commercial shows American landmarks, while a narrator reads a revised version of Emma Lazarus' 1883 poem, "The New Colossus," which is engraved at the Statue of Liberty. Both versions feature the famous lines, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," but where the original calls for "the homeless, tempest-tossed to me," the new version calls for "talent that is searching for purpose. Those dedicated to the doing." The ad pays homage to Lazarus with its title, "Emma."
What do you think? Should Zuck's company have messed with a beloved poem? Or, should they have taken the opportunity to showcase a new or undiscovered poem?
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