Children See, Children Do
A few months ago we ran a very popular post about the Most Successful Anti-Smoking Campaign Ever. The campaign, aired in Asia, used children to highlight to adults how hypocritical their behaviour and risk taking was. Most agreed that it was a very effective, if somewhat controversial method and wondered why other countries hadn’t picked up the concept?.
Back in 2006:
NAPCAN, Australia’s National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, launched a thought-provoking television/cinema campaign this year with “Children See, Children Do”. The 90 second spot features children following adults, mimicking their habits. At first the pattern appears to be innocuous, talking on a mobile phone while walking through a city square, making a call on a public telephone, waiting behind the yellow line in a railway station. The behaviour becomes more insidious with a girl copying a woman’s smoking habits on an escalator. A boy follows as a grown man carelessly knocks a struggling mother’s bag off her shoulder. We see examples of litter, drunken behaviour, road rage, racism and cruelty to animals. A woman yells at her baby, accompanied by her older daughter. A man is joined by his son as he verbally and physically abuses his wife.
The Ad was soon banned. I cant find the exact reasons for its banning but i am guessing something to do with the violent scenes at the end? Do ads like this really work? Are the people who have such scant regard for how their children may emulate their behaviour really going to care or appreciate being told not to be so naughty? I think that only the responsible parents are going to respond to this message – as a reinforcement of what they already know is the right thing to do??
Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below