No no. I appreciate the questions, ita!.

Mr. Lynn is the director of Grey Espana, which is the division of the Grey Group (all OVER the world) advertising company that came up with the campaign.

Oddly, the only references I can find about the project are in news items that mention potential advertising awards. The ANAR website does not mention is, as far as I could see.

You know, my father was pretty short. He might have been able to see the image. THAT is what would have set him off. Both the picture of a bruised child and the offer of help would have...well, he'd have gone crazy.

He once beat me bloody when he caught me watching an episode of the Waltons. No lie. Anything that showed real families that cared for each other, was the ultimate threat to his worldview.

I don't want to come across as condemning the project. There is such a huge spectrum of abuse and there are so many kids who could benefit from this gesture of help.

It is just a matter of doing it in a way that does not make things worse.

I have to be completely honest, my fear was so great, I'm not sure that, even is I saw the poster on my own, I would call the number. My besieged brain would have doubted that it was real, that I could trust whomever I spoke to and, more to the point, that any help I got would actually keep me from being killed.

Ah. I am now wondering if it would have been more polite for me to include a trigger warning and white font my post.

I wasn't thinking, and hope I did not upset anyone.

I sincerely appreciate your encouragement Stephanie, and your questions, ita !, but I can delete the post if it upsetting.

Well, the reaction I'm having to your posts, bonny, is to wish to travel back in time and remove your father from the face of the earth* and do whatever I could to make you safe (and what's more, feel safe).

Frank, I'm glad you are safe. What a horrible thing to happen.

ETA: *Not before you were conceived. I don't want to remove YOU from the planet.

I think they need to hear your message, bonny.

Aw, thanks Andi. I'd have wanted you to!

Thanks, Burrell, I'll just send it as is.

bonny,

I thought it was a good letter. I must admit I can't comprehend how these advertisements are supposed to work. What if an adult is tying his shoes and bends down? Won't he see the ad? Would these ads be more effective than others?

Both good questions, le n. I just don't know.

bonny, I think you should send the letter. That was the first thing I thought of, when I saw that ad. What if the adult sees the "hidden" part? What if the child thinks the adult can see it? It isn't "hidden" enough, nor reassuring enough, though I'm not sure anything could be reassuring enough.

I honestly believe the campaign is something better than nothing, but I just think it needs tweaking.

It might make more sense to advertise the hotline numbers in school bathrooms, rather than on the street.

I don't think the campaign is operating in 100% adult secret, otherwise they'd be broadcasting it in the kid aural spectrum or whatever. But the idea, to the kid, that there is a world without their abuser, and a path to that world, is probably a very important message. Clearly there are lots of ads where adults can see them--the key is calling one and getting to help without raising suspicion, but it would be impossible to foster an image of a world without recourse for kids--abusive parents can see the same news reports we can, after all.

So I do think every notably different way they convey the message can be useful, and the idea (not illusion, just the very concept) of being able to escape to somewhere where all the adults care is a big takeaway here.