viz.

In many of the ads, the abuse tends to occur off camera, subjecting the viewer/auditor to the sounds of violence without the spectacle (this French ad, for example, and this British one).  These ads tend to be aimed at the "innocent bystanders," those who are surrounded by abuse but who do nothing to stop it.  While I've been fortunate enough to be spared such an experience, I imagine that the commercials cause the target audience to re-live the experience and reflect on their own passivity.

Image Credit: Screenshot from Pond's Ad on YouTube

Other ads depict the effects of abuse without showing the causes.  These tend to be aimed at women who may be the victims of abuse.  This Pond's commercial (the lotion company) shows images of battered women next to a quoted excuse such as, in the above image, "Fell off the bed."  This ad for the Family Justice Center shows us a wedding in which the woman vows to "make excuses when you humiliate me in public" and "to blame myself when you hit me."  

As a woman, I bristle at the way these ads seem to implicate the victim for not speaking up.  They strike me as more accusatory than supportive, and one wonders if shame is really an effective means to reach victims of domestic violence.  Perhaps.  In the Jezebel post I cited last week, the author explains how most people involved in abusive relationships don't actually see themselves as villains or victims.

That issue is quite poignantly addressed by this British advertisement directed at teenagers:

Image Credit: UK Home Office via YouTube

H/T again to Rachel

This is one of the few ads I found that targets the perpetrators of abuse specifically, and it's interesting that the target audience is young men.  It asks the teenage boy to look at himself and his actions from an outside perspective - arguing that if he could "only see" himself, he wouldn't be behaving that way.  

When adult abusers are targeted, children are often invoked, using the argument that children learn from their parents.  In this ad, the violence is acted out by children, though we only see their feet in oversized (parental) shoes.  This poignant Australian ad is aimed at a variety of parental misbehaviors, pairing adults with children who mimic their actions.

I wish I had something profound to end with, but wading back through these commercials has just left me disheartened.  While the David Arquette ad that I talked about last week may not have been serious enough, it also wasn't as depressing.  And so I wonder if it's actually possible to find ways to raise awareness without making people feel lousy?