Grenfell families ‘upset’ as advert edits out tower
A company has been forced to apologise after it edited Grenfell Tower from the skyline of a video.
The tower block fire in North Kensington in June 2017 resulted in the deaths of 72 people.
Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman was among the dead, spotted the edit during the airing of a Voltarol pain relief advertisement on Monday.
The advert on Channel 4’s streaming service showed a group playing on Westway football pitches near the building. Mr Mussilhy said he immediately recognised the horizon, having grown up playing football on the artificial pitches.
Despite two other council towers remaining in the picture, Grenfell, which is wrapped in a large white sheet and banner saying “forever in our hearts” had been scrubbed from the scene.
Mr Mussilhy told The Guardian: “It was really upsetting. It seems nobody wants to see it any more, that it’s an eyesore. The vibe I feel is that [people] want it gone.”
Upon closer inspection he and his wife said they noticed signs the clip had been edited. The Westway sports facility was used as a relief centre in the aftermath of the fire.
Haleon, a consumer health company, commissioned the advert which has also been running on Channel 4’s terrestrial broadcast.
The company confirmed the editing had taken place, and a spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry for any distress that our recent Voltarol advertisement may have caused. We will be taking the advert off air with immediate effect.”
It is thought the advert was due to be aired to a foreign audience which was said to feed into the decision to edit out Grenfell Tower.
The Grenfell Tower public inquiry announced this week it was not ready to publish its final report before the seventh anniversary of the fire.
It means there will be further delays to a police investigation which could result in corporate manslaughter and gross negligence charges being brought following the refurbishment of the building with combustible materials.
In total, 900 bereaved relatives, survivors and Grenfell residents last year received £150 million – an average of £166,000 each – after settling legal claims brought against those responsible, including the London Fire Commissioner.
Survivors and grieving relatives have spoken of their distress at discovering 114 firefighters received a £20 million settlement – equivalent to £175,000 each.
One relative who lost six members of his family said it was “insulting to our loved ones”.
Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: “We share the concerns of the families, you can’t edit out Grenfell, we all have a duty to continue learning from it.”
