Women's Aid - 160,000 children (2018)

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Women's Aid estimates that 160,000 children in England are living in households where domestic abuse takes place. Yet life-saving services are being forced to strip back their dedicated children and young people’s domestic abuse services in order to keep their doors open. Over half of the residents in refuge are children.

Women’s Aid has launched marketing campaign that aims to highlight how children are the “hidden victims” of domestic abuse.

So the charity worked with WCRS and the British Board of Film Classification for a powerful cinema ad that shines a light on these hidden victims of domestic abuse. Inspired by real experiences, the spot was conceived with the express intention of gaining an 18 certificate and the violent scenes were removed with BBFC’s help. The resulting film is highly censored and disjointed, leaving the audience to imagine what it must be like to be a child who witnesses such things unedited. In collaboration with Digital Cinema Media, the campaign will run nationwide in cinemas from 7 September until the beginning of October, as well as online with the hashtag #160kchildren. It was created and directed by David Dearlove. 

In collaboration with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) the advert, created by WCRS, shows how children are shielded from violence in cinema but may not be when they get home. Currently, 160,000 children in England are living in homes where domestic abuse takes place and there are more children in refuges then adults.

The campaign, which runs from 7 September 2018, will air across cinemas until the beginning of October. It is supported by social media activity under the hashtag #160kchildren.

The film depicts an abusive partner being violent that was filmed with the intention of gaining an 18 certificate. It was then cut so children could watch, leaving much of the violence to the imagination. The result is a disjointed advert that leaves the viewer wondering what it must be like for a child to watch the uncensored abuse.

Katie Ghose, chief executive of Women’s Aid, tells Marketing Week: “We wanted to get across the powerful message of the hidden victims of domestic abuse – children -who may not just be witnessing domestic abuse but experiencing it.”

She adds: “One of the brilliant aspect of this new cinema ad is that it depicts the abusive partner as very in control of the situation and that’s important to understand about the dynamics of domestic abuse.”

“Domestic abuse is often in the shadows and people can feel too frightened to come forward for help. If we want to end domestic abuse, marketing and communications is one way to change the attitudes and ultimately prevent domestic abuse happening in the first place.”

Eleven complainants challenged whether the ad caused excessive distress without justifiable reason and whether that distress was excessive. Some complainants challenged whether the ad, which had been scheduled to only appear during films rated 15 and above, had been irresponsibly targeted.

Credits

Client: Women’s Aid

Agency: WCRS

Executive creative director: Billy Faithfull

Creative director: Christopher Ringsell

Creative: David Dearlove

Planner: Adele Aitchison

Agency producer

Joseph Pawsey

Asst producer

Lois Laxton

Account handling: Will Lever, Rosa Stanley, Henry Davies

Media agency: DCM

Production company: Riff Raff

Producer: Matthew Fone, Natalie Arnett, Kate Brady

Director: David Dearlove

Editor: Joe Guest

Sound design: Phil Bolland

Post-production: Alasdair Patrick