It is safe to say our Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (ASCA) campaign was not universally lauded.
Our clients, all of whom are child abuse survivors, wept when we presented the idea, and again when we showed them the finished work.
Then they insisted we run it unchanged.
When it launched, we were accused of trivialising and even encouraging child abuse on national current affairs shows. We were mentioned in Parliament. We were ripped to shreds on the Gruen Transfer. The debate about whether the campaign should be banned was the most-read article in both major newspapers.
The radio ads were the most hard-hitting. Literally.
Channel 9 bowed to the pressure and refused to run the television, although other stations did. The Youtube clip has had around 100,000 mostly offended views.
There were also print/poster executions which proved equally controversial.
We placed a special build outdoor installation on Bondi Beach so the public could join in.
We even created classified ads to coincide with 'special' days for 'special' friends.
The campaign offended many. Perhaps most. Yet it won at Cannes, CLIO, London, AWARD and many others, with various components winning Ad of the Year and Campaign of the Year.
But more importantly it started a debate about the lack of support for the adult survivors of child abuse, got Government funding for ASCA, and moved them from fringe advocates into the mainstream.
Two years later I am still getting death threats via the Youtube comments section.
Job well done.
Our clients, all of whom are child abuse survivors, wept when we presented the idea, and again when we showed them the finished work.
Then they insisted we run it unchanged.
When it launched, we were accused of trivialising and even encouraging child abuse on national current affairs shows. We were mentioned in Parliament. We were ripped to shreds on the Gruen Transfer. The debate about whether the campaign should be banned was the most-read article in both major newspapers.
The radio ads were the most hard-hitting. Literally.
Channel 9 bowed to the pressure and refused to run the television, although other stations did. The Youtube clip has had around 100,000 mostly offended views.
There were also print/poster executions which proved equally controversial.
We placed a special build outdoor installation on Bondi Beach so the public could join in.
We even created classified ads to coincide with 'special' days for 'special' friends.
The campaign offended many. Perhaps most. Yet it won at Cannes, CLIO, London, AWARD and many others, with various components winning Ad of the Year and Campaign of the Year.
But more importantly it started a debate about the lack of support for the adult survivors of child abuse, got Government funding for ASCA, and moved them from fringe advocates into the mainstream.
Two years later I am still getting death threats via the Youtube comments section.
Job well done.