Truth in advertising.

I've pointed out positive and negative advertising before on this blog. Maybe it is because I work in advertising that I notice these things like I do? Personally, I blame my college advertising 101 teacher who made us sit through commercials and write about them. Once you have been forced to deconstruct a few hundred Super Bowl ads, you will never watch television the same way again.
I've seen a commercial on television several times recently that I really like. I think it's a perfect example of how advertising can send a positive message.
I looked all over the 'Net but could not find a video for this ad. I did find a screen shot, so if you have seen it, you might recognize the photo. From what I can tell, this ad came out in 2003, but I've only seen it recently. It is from Canada, and it has won quite a few awards.
I love it's simplicity. As simple as it seems, it really packs a punch! The ad focuses on mental/controlling/verbal abuse in relationships, an issue that I've always had very strong feelings about. I've seen several lovely women get caught and sadly, lost in the quicksand of domestic abuse.
So many women assume that because they are not being physically abused, it isn't as bad, when in fact, it is in many ways worse.
Verbal abuse seems to last a lot longer and seems to be easier for otherwise intelligent women to make excuses for it. For those women it seems to take years for it to finally escalate to a point of physical violence and then they are forced to do something about it, but by that point the damage is permanent. They are mentally broken, any children they have are internally scarred, and a lot of their personal and familial relationships are long gone and destroyed because they wasted so many years making excuses for their abuses and finally people had to walk away because they could not take the pain of knowing them any longer. People who live in these situations are constantly surrounded by fall out. To try to be close to a person in this situation is nearly as difficult as being in the situation, because you can't speak reason to them and if you put your foot down and make tough choices to try to help them, they inevitably think you have somehow turned on them and they lash out on you with all of their pent up fury that should be directed at their abuser, but they don't feel safe directing it that direction. It is one of the worst kinds of tragedy.
For those of you who have not seen the commercial, it goes something like this. You enter a wedding in progress. For a minute you think you are watching a David's Bridal commercial, or some kind of jewelry commercial, anything along those lines. Then you get closer and you can hear what the bride is saying. She is looking at her husband to be and vowing to make excuses for him when he treats her badly, when he isolates her from her friends and family, when their children are hurt by their constant fighting, hide the bruises when he eventually starts to physically abuse her, etc.
I think it is so powerful because it is so simple and catches you off guard. I will post it on here if I ever find an online version of it. I think it is a perfect example of a strong campaign for something like this.
I like it better than the overly obvious campaigns with the bruises and black eyes, or the secretly crying children. Not that those things are not effective, but because I've seen women in the deep throws of denial in these situations and I firmly believe they would never think that their situation is that bad. In fact, I feel those kinds of images would have the opposite effect. Those women would think, "Well at least my situation is that bad." and use it as just another way to make excuses to themselves for the abusers they think they are in love with.

Dumbing down... coffee?

I'm somewhat disturbed by this new advertising campaign McDonald's has launched trying to promote their new Lattes and otherwise fancy coffee drinks. Until today I had only ever seen the television ads where there are two attractive people sitting in a cute European looking cafe enjoying coffee, listening to music, and reading books.
Then, when one of them asks the other, "Have you heard that McDonald's is now serving Lattes?" they both get positively gleeful.
They toss their books aside and start excitedly going on about reality television and gossip magazines. They start confessing to not really liking classical music, or understanding languages, or reading poetry. You can actually see the IQ points fall away with every confession. They seem elated by the idea that they no longer have to make an effort to think for themselves and that they can finally put aside intellectual pursuits to join the ranks of TMZ watchers and OK Magazine readers!

This morning I heard the radio spot. I've only heard it once, so this isn't verbatim, but the gist is, there was a very happy woman's voice talking about how she could finally forget about her Russian Lit degree and now be free to take on the exciting task of catching up on gossip magazines and reality television! (What is it with reality television?)


So basically, what these ads are trying to say is, "McDonald's is now selling McStupid juice and they are so proud of it!"

Advertising that is doing a good thing.

While I was watching TV this weekend an ad caught my eye. It was an ad for an anti-cyberbullying campaign. This is something that I never had to deal with as a teen because we were not online when I was in High School. My very first time on the internet was after I was already a mother.
I have a child who is growing up right in the middle of this generation where people can hide behind the internet and texting. It gives a very loud voice to passive aggression making bullying in schools easier and more accessible. Information & gossip travels faster than ever before. It is also harder for teachers or parents to catch it.

I think these ads are smart and well done.
Here are two of the campaigns they have going right now: