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.

I totally agree.

It turns out that Mr. Lynn is the President and CEO of the company.

I received this message from him this morning:

Many thanks for your email. I will talk personally to our Creative Director to ensure that we take into account your comments and suggestions which are clearly so important.

I very much appreciate you contacting us.

I am at peace with it.

It might be a auto-response, but it is a refreshingly warm auto-response!

Just saw the latest discussion, so I know this is coming in late, but I have to add --

bonny, I thought it was an excellent email. In particular, you acknowledged that the ad agency was engaged in an honest, good faith effort to help. That way, you were able to come across as trying to improve their work based on your worldview (which, it should go without saying, isn't necessarily the same as the persons that created the ad).

Thanks, Pete. I can sincerely say that was my intent.

Many people who endeavor who help abused children know where of they speak, but an ad agency is unlikely to share that experience...nor should they necessarily be able to walk in all their clients' shoes.

I imagine that the agency heard from a number of people...or at least I hope they did. I'll probably never see the results, I'll just hope for the best.

bonny - I think that was a good email to send the agency. They need to fully understand the ramifications of the poster before it is sent out. I think that your POV should be particularly valuable to them and I hope that other survivors also contact them with their impressions.

bonny, it's good that you provided feedback from your perspective. I wouldn't expect that no one at the ad agency was abused as a child, but if someone was, he/she might not have spoken up (for various reasons, like justifiably not wanting to disclose personal information to colleagues, etc.). Your input is very important, IMO.

ION, the ultrasound I had last week (because of the ongoing vague-yet-painful bladder issues) showed nothing out of the ordinary. My OB/GYN thinks it's bladder spasms, and wants me to take AZO for one more week (the orange pee is HILARIOUS), and then if there's no improvement, she can refer me to a urologist.

I'm glad it's not something awful, but I also wish it were something that could be definitively treated. Bah.

I'm starting to wonder if it's an IBS flare. I haven't had issues in years, but things have gotten notably more stressful in the last 4 months (even "good" stressors like planning a dang wedding are still stressors; my body doesn't care what the source of the stress is), so -- maybe that's it. I need to do some research on whether IBS causes bladder issues.

I feel a little dumb that I didn't think of IBS before, but in my defense, like I said above, I haven't had issues with it in YEARS.

Bodies is weird.