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Rarely am I moved by a feat of advertising, but this Amnesty International anti-domestic violence ad managed to resonate with me. The bus poster is equipped with a camera which uses some sort of futuristic technology to know when it’s attracted your eye. The gadget aficionados over at Gizmodo are moved as well, in their own way:
Amnesty International has installed a new anti-domestic-abuse ad fixture in Hamburg, Germany which is equal parts clever and shocking: when you look at the photo, it’s a smiling couple; when you look away, it’s a dude punchin’ a lady.
The high-tech ad, which is unlikely to make it to a bus stop near you, succeeds on an “ooh, shiny” tech geek level. But the new technology helps Amnesty’s Ad register a more basic achievement: conveying a simple truth about domestic violence cases in a moment’s glance.
Hollaback D.C., which has chronicled countless incidents of harassment on D.C. public transportation, appreciates Amnesty’s effort as well —-but rightfully wonders if the ad campaign would help anything if installed on the D.C. streets. The short answer is: Probably not. But it’s nice to know that intelligent copywriters and cutting-edge technology are being put to use for more than just selling candy bars—-and that the problem of domestic violence is worthy of attention from brilliant minds.