Nova Scotia consent ads take heat for blunt sexual language

Via CBC

A campaign about consent by the government of Nova Scotia has provoked mixed reactions from the very groups it hopes to champion, in the post-Rehtaeh conversation about consent and rape culture.

According to the CBC, Sherri Bain, an advocate for survivors of assault, questioned the approach:

"Their design team, I think, missed the mark,” she said. She worries the message could be misinterpreted. 

"For someone driving by, if they're seeing 'take me' and 'do me,' I'm concerned that it may do exactly the opposite of what they're intending," she said. "Our city needs to find another way to advertise besides being so overtly sexual."

A later article adds:

...since the ads have gone up, some young women and groups that work with victims of sexual violence have complained in media reports that they don't explain clearly enough that consent from someone who has been drinking or taking drugs does not qualify as true consent for sex.

Via Global

Global News also posted this shot of the call-to-action from the posters:

The campaign site, novascotia.ca/ask, positions information about drugs and alcohol very prominently.

The ads were created by Communications Nova Scotia (the Chronicle-Herald says Stir Creative) following focus group research with male and female youth. While one woman participant has come forward to say she was assured the ads would never run, the findings from the male groups convinced Marilyn More, Nova Scotia's minister of labour and advanced education, to stand by the campaign:

"They told us this is the kind of campaign they would respond to, [that] it made a difference in how they thought about consent for sexual activity," she said. 

"Quite frankly, I don't think there is a perfect ad campaign that means the same to everyone in this province but we had to start somewhere."

Personally, I'm not in love with the art direction of these ads. But the fact that they have people in national mainstream media talking about the complexities of sexual consent is a "win" as far as social marketing goes. I only wish the province had released the posters in full, so those media wouldn't have to run smartphone shots of the creative.

A really, really depressing bicycle safety campaign

The concept works, I think, in conveying the idea of "distance". But at first I wasn't sure who it was talking to, cyclists (keep your distance from cars) or car drivers (keep your distance from cyclists). I was also unsure whether the 1.5 m was supposed to give me a mental image of a car tailgating a bike, or vice versa, or whether it was how much clearance drivers need to give a bike while driving past one. But at least it got me thinking about the issue, I guess.

What the campaign succeeds at is conveying the emotions of sadness and regret. It is quite honestly the most depressing ad campaign I have seen in quite some time.

And that too can be a problem. Many ad consumers simply can't cope with negative emotions. They protect themselves and their consciences by mentally separating themselves from the ad. ("That's not me!") This is called defensive processing, and it is the sworn enemy of hard-hitting social marketing.

That said, I was still moved by this campaign. When I am behind the wheel, I try to be as respectful and cautious as possible of both cyclists and pedestrians. 

And as a cyclist? Let's just say that this campaign just confirms my fears about riding a bike in traffic.

Campaign by Y&R South Africa
Spotted on Ads of The World

Test your B.Q. (Brotherhood Quotient)

click to read

Via Reddit/imgur comes this awkward attempt at teaching equality to kids in a 45-year-old comic book ad.

Amusing aside: "long-hair music" actually referred to classical composers back then. I recall a joke about it being compared to hippie music in a 1970s Jesus-freak Archie comic.

Getting medieval on social marketing

Flashing, sexting, girls kissing girls just for the attention, drinking and smoking dope 'til you pass out or puke...

Artist Erin M. Riley has woven cautionary life lessons for young women into a very, very old medium — tapestry:

I love the juxtaposition of modern vices with classic artisanship. It's like a Bayeux Tapestry of fail. You can see more of Erin's work at her Flikr.

Link via The Buzz Brewery

Tools of the (fight against the sex) Trade

I'm on vacation this week, so posts will be fewer and lighter.

Osocio today shared an interesting collection of ads about women's issues, by act-responsible.org, on Facebook.

While the ads cover a range of issues, from domestic violence to poverty, it was interesting to note the variety of approaches to the issue of human trafficking.

For example this one, by McCann-Erickson Belgium for the Samilia Foundation, is just plain weird:

I'm not really sure what it's saying, beyond getting my attention for the issue.


The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe was a little more straightforward in showing the hurt and hopelessness experienced by captive women in the sex trade:

This Luxembourg one I don't much like at all. First of all, it's far too positively sexual for a message about sexual slavery:

Second, it's a blatant PETA ripoff:

This one from India is a tad too smart ans subtle:

So,  how would I approach the issue? Probably something like this:

Sorry the copy is hard to read. Here is a zoom:

What I like about this Israeli approach is the way it lures you in with tasteful sexual interest, then pokes you with harsh reality. Even the copy, "Don't be an accomplice", is devastatingly effective.

Social Marketing is all about shifts in perception. If you try too hard to force a change, audiences won't relate  — or worse, they'll shut you out. The key is to work with their existing perceptions then nudge them out of their comfort zone by showing them that all is not as it seems. I think this ad is a perfect example.

Admen need to go back to school

I had one of those humbling experiences this morning when I realized how ad and marketing people overcomplicate everything. I was talking to my wife, Julia, over coffee about my struggles to explain a social marketing strategy to a group of people.

I talked passionately about how I had learned to turn away from attention-getting (but ultimately self-serving) "shock and awe" campaigns and to focus more on creating stories and experiences that engage people. You know, the big scary social media world we admen are racing to come to grips with.

"Oh, I get it," she said to me. "You're not selling, you're teaching."

Julia teaches English public elementary school, Grade 4.

"Of course you don't get anywhere by surprising people," she said. "Learning isn't about surprises. That interferes with the learning process. If you don't prepare people for what they're about to learn, the lesson will be lost. The level of learning will be much greater if you prepare them for the lesson, then provide support."

This was exactly what I was trying to come to terms with: a campaign strategy that involved a slow, social-media-based awareness build to create context for later direct marketing and paid media efforts, followed by online tools, continued media relations, and sustainable community-building. But without all the jargon.

Sounds like Julia has known more about social marketing than me for... well...  years.  No wonder I'm hot for teacher.

Who you gonna call?

MADD Canada recently announced that it is partnering with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to take more impaired drivers off the roads by launching their "Campaign 911" in the province:



Launched three years ago, the campaign uses signs, billboards, public service announcements, postcards, bookmarks and other material to try to convince the driving public that it is appropriate to call the emergency number if you suspect someone is driving impaired.

According to MADD's press release:

"When MADD Canada started this program in 2007, there was a widespread public misperception that impaired driving was not an appropriate reason to call 911, that it was not a true emergency ... we are pleased to say that programs such as Campaign 911 are changing that. We are seeing more and more reports of impaired drivers being taken off the roads because concerned citizens called 911."

The following are the warning signs that good citizens are supposed to watch out for:

1. Driving unreasonably fast, slow or at an inconsistent speed
2. Drifting in and out of lanes
3. Tailgating and changing lanes frequently
4. Making exceptionally wide turns
5. Changing lanes or passing without sufficient clearance
6. Overshooting or stopping well before stop signs or stop lights
7. Disregarding signals and lights
8. Approaching signals or leaving intersections too quickly or slowly
9. Driving without headlights, failing to lower high beams or leaving turn signals on
10.Driving with windows open in cold or inclement weather

This gives me some concern. On one hand, I would and have called 911 in cases where I suspected another driver on the road was driving with extreme recklessness — drunk or otherwise. I hate impaired driving with a passion, and have dedicated myself to combating the issue both personally and professionally. (Once, after a call, the OPP had my pregnant wife and me tail a car all the way from Carleton Place to Ottawa!)

On the other hand, there are already a lot of people out there who abuse the 911 emergency service, and others who are self-styled "hall monitors" of the roads. I hate it when people tailgate, speed excessively, cut off other cars, fail to lower highbeams, etc. But only a few of them I suspect of impairment. Most are just asses.

And then there's "driving with windows open in cold or inclement weather". Have you ever driven with a smoker? This is standard operating procedure.

That said, there have been significant cases of 911 callers stopping drunk drivers — even on a bus!

And the campaign is working. In Calgary, where it was launched 5 months ago, the number of calls has jumped 60 percent — resulting in a seventeen per cent increase in impaired driving charges.

There was no information given on the increased cost to 911 resources, or the number of mistaken or spiteful calls. But it seems that police forces and municipalities are embracing the new culture of non-violent citizen vigilantism.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail. And they'll at least pull over to use their phones, lest they add to the dangerous driving statistics.

Montreal style social marketing

In Montreal today for some soundtrack work on a TV spot, I was stopped by one of the few posters on St. Catherine Street that was actually safe for work:



The glare and the snow flurries you see are exactly how I saw it, too. And so at first I didn't notice anything unusual about it. But this being Montreal, I knew there had to be more to it. So I stopped and looked:



In case it's still hard to see, the phone cord is wrapped around his shoulder in the shape of a comforting hand. Okay, so you don't see many of those phones anymore, and it could come off a little creepy. But at least it's clever.

The big question is, are ads like this too clever? I stopped and looked because I'm an adman, and Montreal is French Canada's own Madison Avenue. I like to see what's up around town.

Clever visuals have been the bread and butter of Montreal (and Quebec) ads for some time now. The people I know from Quebec seem to enjoy decoding them. But then again, most of the Quebeckers I know are involved in my industry in one way or another.

Part of me wonders if this is an effective approach for reaching the severely depressed. Will they see it? Will they act on it? Someone needs to tell me, because I'm not from here. And I occasionally suspect that the competitiveness of the local industry might be outpacing the ability of the target markets to comprehend the messages.

I hope I'm wrong, though. Because it's kind of a neat ad. What do you think?