Comments on: Badvertising

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:28:48 +0000

I am so horrified that this would be a joke that I have not even watched the video…why would I want to. Is anyone having this banned?

By: RubyRay

RubyRay — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:06:31 +0000

I was shocked by the ad, but I thought “well, at least someone is saying it out loud”. I decided to go ahead and view their website. I thought, maybe it will be a good resource for me and other women in my support group.
The first thing I saw on their site was a t-shirt that says “my uncle raped me when i was 8 and all i got was this lousy t-shirt”
That just enraged me. I came to their website looking for support and I’m met with yet another sick ad? How can they be portraying themselves as a site that wants to offer a SAFE, SECURE and RESPECTFUL envirment to survivors and yet post ads and images that make us want to puke? Clearly, they do now know what it really feels like to be a survivor.
Advertising for education and prevention is one thing, but to reach out to survivors? What a sick joke. I left that site feeling like crap.

By: Trev

Trev — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:13:24 +0000

Surely this advert is directly inspired by the shockingly brilliant film, Festen? I’m assuming they got permission from Vinterberg and Rukov…

By: J

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:23:48 +0000

It does raise the question though, if so many people AREN’T picking up on the message at the end … is it actually an effective ad??

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:45:37 +0000

Shocking irony is the key to this ad. It works pretty well – I was shocked.

I also agree with Deadhead’s comments.

By: Deadhead

Deadhead — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:41:50 +0000

It wasn’t funny. It’s not meant to be. It’s meant to make you shut up, pay attention, and when it gets to the actual message at the end, you’re supposed to be thinking completely about the issue. It’s not making a mockery of child abuse, quite the opposite actually, the advert is saying that it is incredibly hard to get over abuse and that not enough adults are seeking help, and that not enough people are concerned about the issue.

By: leymoo

leymoo — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:15:40 +0000

The whole point is that it’s not funny, that we need to not just brush issues under the carpet by making jokes from a distance.

At least, that’s what I thought: if you’re getting shocked by it then that’s the point, it’s not really meant to be funny.

We have child abuse ads where the kid is being abused and talks about it, and explains that we shouldn’t avoid the issue. This seems to produce the same effect.

By: Madison Rose

Madison Rose — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:37:13 +0000

I thought it was f**ckin funny, but i’m not a child abuse survivor, so I respect that it annoys some survivors. Having said that, I do think Lovefoxxx is right. And given that it’s just been linked from the b3ta newsletter, I think it’s a very successful ad!

By: european bob

european bob — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:42:10 +0000

genious

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:11:06 +0000

Thank you for the words Marie. As a survivor of emotional abuse it’s good to know that some people understand. I can only hope that it’s not through first hand experience.

And Shaun, don’t make me smack you. “She’s lucky” that she got molested?

You have to be kidding.

By: shaun peters

shaun peters — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:21:57 +0000

I don’t see what the big deal is, everyone loved the speech. I tuink he did a good job. You have to rememebr some people’s dads don’t even turn up to their kids weddings or are dead. She’s lucky.

By: sharlu

sharlu — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:44:08 +0000

I think this ad gets straight to the point. Because it obviously isn’t easy to get over which is what it’s trying to say. I didn’t find it funny, more like a shock. But it does drive home the point.

By: Portia

Portia — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:25:27 +0000

It’s not the folks who are offended who have missed the point of this ad. It looks like the authors are prescribing this scenario as a good example of how righteous Ozzies can just get over little things like child abuse with a bit of well-placed humour. Anyone who can’t just needs to harden up. The first speck of reality or compassion comes in the voiceover, where the actual message is completely overshadowed by what’s just been shown. Unbelievable. What the advertisers supposedly intended to say conflicts with what actually gets said.

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:51:01 +0000

I agree with Simon DC and others – most people seem to have missed the point. But I guess that means the ad’s not going to be effective, if the majority of people don’t figure out what the message actually is. Which is a shame, because child sexual abuse is a terrible thing to experience and have to try to get over. Maybe the offended reaction of many people who’ve commented here is a symptom of the lack of discussion of this issue in society.

By: trixie

trixie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:54:13 +0000

sure its intention is to help but this is treading a very fine line for such a sensitive subject like sexual abuse. inappropriate really in my view – made me feel a bit sick even though this has never happened to me personally.