In December 2007 an ad agency created a series of advertisements for the Child Study Center at New York University. After only two weeks the ads were pulled due to parental protest. The original goal was to increase awareness of children's mental and neurological disorders.
Advocates for children with autism and for other special-needs children said the ads reinforced negative stereotypes.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think ads like these would promote stereotypical notions of ADHD and other disorders? Or do you think this would have been a novel approach to promote awareness?
You can read the full story on The New York Times website.
Hi, Shane - Great blog!
ReplyDeleteI don't like that the ad is written as a ransom note. There is a threat component that totally turns me off. I also don't care for that because a ransom note implies that if you are willing to pay, the problem can be resolved. That would be a false promise on the part of the Mental Health professionals.
Another problem I have with the ads is that they attempt to reduce complicated problems down to one-size-fits-all, inaccurate sound-bites.
I know they mean well, but I would have hoped for better from them. They can accomplish their goals in a more appropriate way.
Again, wonderful blog! I found it by accident and am glad I did!