This PSA during the Super Bowl could not have been more well placed. It was right before the halftime show where Katy Perry was performing. Naturally, she was chosen to increase women viewership of the big game. The spot on TV was only 30 seconds, but this is a minute. Both are equally moving.
A woman calls 9-1-1 to order pizza, but the operator on the other end realizes this is not a prank call. The woman is in trouble, domestic violence trouble. She needs to be protected from her own man. Overturned furniture and the aftermath of abuse could be seen from the images. The woman and man are not seen during the PSA.
During the NFL regular season, all of the PSAs warning of domestic violence focused on the phrase "No more," showing football players and celebrities. The campaign grew to another form where "Speechless" was born. In these PSAs, the celebrities struggled to find words to describe what was happening to them.
The Super Bowl PSA was based off of a similar phone call from South Carolina to the 9-1-1 dispatch. According to The New Yorker, domestic violence has decreased recently, and advertising has focused more on raising awareness to bystanders, or the women of domestic abuse.
The New Yorker article highlights the most important aspect of this PSA: "with an audience of millions, the league has the power to drive this conversation, and maybe even effect some change." This PSA has the power to make a change with all of the viewership of the Super Bowl.
The article can be viewed here.
First, in a year of deflated Super Bowl advertisements, I believe that this was the best commercial of the night because it has a true message that needs to not only be heard but also addressed. The first step to addressing any issue is making the public aware, so we are on the right track to decreasing the amount of domestic violence in households with advertisements like this one.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I really liked how you mentioned the placement of this advertisement in your post. We talk a lot about product placement in advertising but in this case sometimes I feel like when it comes to the Super Bowl the commercials can be looked at as a product. Companies pay so much for the airtime and put so much into that 30 seconds. This was probably one of the highest viewed times of the Super Bowl, right before half time, so the placement could not have been better.
I agree! They definitely had the viewership and they identified their audience perfectly. The people behind this PSA thoroughly analyzed who would be their audience in placing the commercial.
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ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite Super Bowl commercial just because of how well it was implemented and the message that it had. It just goes to show sometimes sugar coating things isn't the best way to bring about a PSA and this powerful commercial really proved to be effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the people behind this PSA realized the power of bringing the audience into an actual abuse situation to allow them to see that it can happen to anyone. It also reminds the 9-1-1 responders that sometimes people have to "make up" a phone call to receive help in any situation. The PSA seemed very lifelike and really scary to be in that situation.
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