Your Voice: How Should Domestic Violence Prevention Be Advertised?

Last week on marketing and spin panel show Gruen, two domestic violence awareness ads targeted at young people were compared and contrasted.

Trigger warning: This article deals with violence against women and abusive relationships.

The first was an Australian spot, developed as part of the Government’s new campaign #RespectTheLine.

In it, a young male offender is literally branded with his crime. The ad’s tagline reads, “You can’t undo violence.” (The campaign has been bolstered by print posters featuring young tattooed teenagers.)

As we’ve written before, some young Australians have a disturbing tolerance towards violence against women, and it’s this audience for whom the ad is intended.

However, expert panelists Todd Sampson and Dee Madigan had some criticisms to share, with Madigan making this particular observation: “Shaming people doesn’t change their behaviour.”

“We’ve got to stop doing campaigns that make society feel good and don’t work at changing the behaviours of the perpetrators,” she added.

Sampson, meanwhile, was concerned about the lingering message of the advertisement, which offered no recommendations for those who have crossed "the line.”

“I’m not certain what that young kid – the boy there – is meant to do [now],” he said.

Gruen then examined an ad produced by an Italian news website, in which young boys were asked to slap a young girl. They refuse.

Despite its 30 million views (and counting) on YouTube, Sampson suggested it would be “useless.”

“I actually found the caressing thing a little bit uncomfortable [too],” he said, speaking of the moment in which the children are asked to gently touch the girl and comply.

“Implying that adults should act more like kids… I think adults acting like kids is part of the problem we have with a lot of this,” he concluded.

As domestic violence becomes – rightfully – a more central concern in Australian society, the debate over the best way to stem such behaviour at a young age will only continue.

There will be a lot of trial and error in these advertising campaigns. What say you? Which of these ads resonates most? Share your thoughts in the below poll and share your recommendations for effective advertising on the subject in the comments section.