Oh, how far we've come.
This is not to say that there is necessarily anything wrong with moving on from the days when a woman's ankle was considered risque. The only problem is when the culture doesn't seem to move along with it, and suddenly kids are impersonating professional wrestlers on the playground, sometimes even growing up into adults who try mimicking action and horror films, most often to disastrous results. We have done a good job in Western society to now push the envelope so far, the idea of "too much" is now well beyond our reach.
Which is why I am so surprised at the initial reaction to this commercial to highlight domestic violence, starring Keira Knightley. The commercial, made for the British nonprofit organization Women's Aid, to try and encourage battered women to take a stand against domestic abuse, is brutal in nature, no doubt, but does a tremendous job in getting the message across, especially in an age where the average person sees well over 2000 advertisements a day, and can typically recall less than a dozen.
AGENCY: Grey London
CREATIVE DIRECTION: Grey London
PRODUCTION: D.A.B. Hand Media
DIRECTOR: Joe Wright
PRODUCER: Dominic Delaney
When Good Morning America broke the story, the most shocking reaction did not come from women's shelter employees, or not even victims of domestic abuse themselves, but from a former advertising exec (the article fails to mention that he has been retired for over 15 years, simply calling him an "advertising executive"), Jerry Della Famina.
While those who have endured such abuse, and those who work closely with these women, see the commercial as an extreme, yet effective, way to get this important message across, Della Femina sees the spot as pushing the envelope, not just in its extremity, but for its motives. Della Famina claims the commercial will "not help anybody," and the PSA was only picked up by Grey in order to win industry awards.
...seems as if the only person in this scenario who deserves a punch in the face is Della Famina himself.
For him to accuse Grey of taking on this ad for the sake of awards is sickening. While not all agency motives are always well and good, no doubt, for him to challenge the spot's message (that could potentially help many victims of domestic abuse), in the public eye no less, is reprehensible. The ad does take extreme measures to get its message across, certainly, but in an age where "torture porn" is now an accepted genre of film, this ad certainly goes far from going too far.
It is also no surprise this is the reaction of the now retired Della Famina, who comes from a more classical school of advertising, that while was largely successful for him in the past, is now a thing of the past. His "Meow Mix" and Joe Isuzu ads may have worked brilliantly 20 years ago, but the times have changed, and an ever absent-minded consumer needs to be grabbed, and grabbed good, to get the message across. Cheesy jingles and even cheesier commercial pitchmen just don't do the trick anymore.
Especially considering Della Famina has described himself a "publicity slut" in his own books, it seems a tad hypocritical for an aging 70+ ad man to criticize an agency utilizing a high profile actor and director to get an important message to the masses. With the response reaching well beyond the United Kingdom already, and with European and North American journalists covering the response, the message has been spread far beyond what Grey could have ever imagined, and could very well spurn positive results.
So regardless of the intention of the ads, some good is being done here, Mr. Della Famina. That certainly can't be said for the oversexed, uber-violent ads promoting consumer goods for profit that clutter our culture these days; if this is now what it takes for PSAs to get people's attention, so be it.
Unfortunately, singing and dancing kittens just don't cut it anymore.
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