Thursday, June 25, 2009

High-tech anti-domestic violence advertising.


(click image) This is waaay more innovative than those blood soap dispenser ads. This interactive poster (which just won a Cannes Silver Lion this week) was erected at a bus stop in Hamburg (no, Berlin), Germany. An eye tracking camera was installed in the board, so that when you looked directly at the domestic violence, after a delay, the scene morphed into spousal harmony. "It happens when nobody is watching." Pretty clever and pretty useless, since this lone installation was built for Amnesty International by agency Jung von Matt primarily to win ad awards. Previously in: anti-domestic violence ads. Previously in: Amnesty International ads.

27 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is a great idea and hopefully the ads will pop up in the states.

6:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great idea, though not entirely true. There are definitely couples that keep it under wraps, but just as often I see obviously abusive situations that, simply, no one wants to get involved with.

9:51 AM  
Anonymous TEDChris said...

Actually, doing a single unit to win an award is not that dumb if it gets you noticed... I suspect this will end up being seen by millions of people online. It's the Apple 1984 strategy. Many saw the ad, but way more saw the story of the ad.

12:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would really like it if someone focused on spousal abuse that reversed the genders for once. Men DO get abused by women, and are even more scared to come out about it than female victims are b/c of the social stigma that's attached to it.

This constant painting of men as only attackers in domestic violence disputes really is quite sexist.

This is a serious issue for both genders. Women are not the only victims in the world.

1:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, violence does happen to men as well -- but it is not sexist that most ads focus on women as the victims... it's simply factual. Women are 90+% of victims of domestic violence. In the US, 4 women are murdered a day on average.... if homicides of men hit that level you'd see a switch in the images. Domestic violence is not a gender-neutral issue and the ads raising awareness about it shouldn't be either.

5:35 PM  
Anonymous Eisenvater said...

The ad agency (Jung von Matt) is based in Hamburg. The bus stop is at the Europacenter, on one of the busiest streets in Berlin.

8:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous: yes, men are abused too. But if the fact that men being abused are not often represented in the media bothers you, please do something productive about it. Donate money to a shelter that accepts men, volunteer for such a shelter, write your own ads showing men as victims, whatever you like. More awareness is a good thing. But tearing down ads aimed at protecting women does nothing for your apparent goal of protecting men.

1:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The idea that by paying money you are protecting a woman engages a better response in men through gender stereotyping (me big guy protect weak girl), and a better response in women through empathy. A picture of a guy getting hit would possibly be accurate but not generate nearly as much sympathy, as western culture dictates that guys can look after themselves, and should never hit women. Men do suffer abuse from their partners but I agree with the direction of this ad.
I have seen some male domvi ads here in the UK so it does occasionally get covered.

11:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

bit of a language fail for a german ad isn't it?

11:54 AM  
Blogger copyranter said...

This is an English version of the poster done for publicity purposes.

11:56 AM  
Anonymous Shawn said...

I think it's great. This is exactly how it went down when I was a kid: behind closed doors, out of site.

When I was four we moved from an apartment building to a tract house out in the burbs. I've often thought that my father couldn't have gotten away with the crap he did if it hadn't been so hidden and out of earshot.

GREAT ad concept.

12:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"pretty useless"? Even if it's only a single installation, it's a clever enough concept that I saw the ad (via this post, via DailyDish) here in Seattle. So it's getting a lot more eyes via going viral on the tubes than the "lone installation" would otherwise....

1:10 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

...becoming less useless by the hour.

1:20 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

This would never work in the states. The camera would be stolen 5 minutes after it was installed.

2:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That poster would ruin the rest of my day.

3:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

and what about the guy /girl who posted this and his/her triumphant list of all the things he hates... what's that about..? hate breeds hate.

inneresting post cos he/she is talking about a real topic but a weird way to go about things... i guess that's just how s/he rolls.

love.

4:33 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

Anon: my "hate" list is mostly a joke. Most get that.

5:15 PM  
Blogger Rand Renfrow said...

um, this is scary.
and stupid. cameras in advertisements? that is insanely unnecessary.

2:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Finally. A poster that reminds us that its ok to hit women since nobody will really notice when you do it.

11:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Multiple people joking about domestic violence. Hilarious.

8:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very effective ad. It shows what happens, how it happens and how it is ignored. It puts a very real face on DV.
I would hope more of these ads would show up!

Domestic Violence has to establish itself as real in order to exist. The game that's played in the media is little more than cover up and confuse who is doing what to whom and thus condone domestic violence.

8:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look at me.

I am on the internet.

I am stupid.

My opinion matters.

What I say affects you.

5:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think, this ad has a great effect. Not only because it's posted on the internet now, but also on the people who saw it for real. I guess, they got pretty involved while interacting with the billboard. Great idea, great effect!

4:38 AM  
Blogger eRic™ said...

i really like the idea of this ad. completely tied with the theme and slogan.

3:05 PM  
Anonymous Janice said...

My friend Yasmin is charged with killing her boyfriend in a struggle over a gun. She has been charged with second degree murder. I have known her since kindergarten. No matter who you ask, all of this is shocking. She was always such a nice person. A lot of people remember her as smart and she was smart. But I remember her as a nice sweet person. She was laid back and just never bothered anybody. She was funny. I took pride in seeing my girl do her thing. She got As, played basketball, was class president, got all kinds of awards and didn’t get the big head. She is not in jail now. The judge let her out without even having to pay bail. Some folks who went to the hearing said the lawyers showed pictures of fist holes in the walls and marks from her head on the walls because she was dying her hair when all this broke out. I wondered why her hair was such a mess. I don’t know what happened that day. I just believe my girl was fighting for her life. I guess if her face had been blown away or if she had been killed then people would understand that. It seems that everyday I am watching a news story about a woman who did not make it out. But because she is one of the few who made it people think she has to be guilty. I know she is innocent. Falling for the wrong guy does not make you a murderer. Her family is running out of money because people are hurting financially now and some are judging her by what they have read and not the person they have known. It really doesn’t bother me that people don’t think like I do because everybody doesn’t know her. What bothers me is that they have found her guilty already. They are not even giving her a chance to be proven innocent. If you are able then please help her at www.ylldf.org.

11:04 AM  
Anonymous fred west said...

no jury will find her guilty.

self defence and all that.

9:11 AM  
Blogger Black Phillip said...

If she listened the first time, there wouldn't be any problems.

6:55 PM  

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