In the frantic run-up to Christmas there's a cosy familiarity to the ad breaks. The mince pies, the fake snow, the cheesy grins and the obligatory Christmas track. So it comes as something of a surprise to see an ad for children's charity Barnardo's ad nestling in the Adwatch top 20.
Instead of being served a tasty mug of Christmas cheer we are hit with 60 seconds of unadulterated shock. We see a young girl mugging someone, shooting up, going to jail and being slapped round the head by her father. A hard-hitting reminder of some of the not so merry things that can still happen to children in Britain in the 21st century.
The power of the ad lies in the repetition of the story. It's shown over and over, getting faster and faster, culminating in the message that for many children this story will keep repeating itself unless someone stops it. It's a supremely powerful piece of work. The girl's performance is superb and the editing is faultless.
It's good to see work like this in Adwatch, especially as the Barnardo's budget must have paled compared with the Manchester City-like spending power of the big retailers. It also proves that a piece of work doesn't need to be seen 28 times to be remembered. If it's great, it stays with you on the first viewing. It's testimony to the fact that producing work with impact doesn't need celebs, a familiar tune or a cast of thousands.
The ad has apparently garnered a bucket-full of complaints. No bad thing in my book. The best ads frequently stir up Middle England into a froth. It never ceases to amaze me that TV programmes can get away with murder, not to mention rape, suicide, and just about anything else you can think of, and yet the ads have to be so squeaky clean you can see your face in them. Thankfully this one made it on air and stayed on air.
Some advertisers may grumble that child welfare is an easy subject to grab attention. But while charity ads may have tough imagery in their armoury, they still have to compete with all the other charity ads out there, they still have to navigate their way round the regulations, and they still have to work. I think the Barnardo's ad succeeded on all three counts.