Barnardo’s has used the shocking image of a baby about to inject
heroin as part of its drive to raise awareness about the charity’s work
with children.
The ad shows a baby clutching a blood-filled syringe as it tightens a
tourniquet with its mouth on a grimy, litter-strewn floor.
The copy reads: ’John Donaldson - aged 23. Battered as a child.’ The
execution continues: ’It was always possible that John would turn to
drugs. With Barnardo’s help, child abuse need not lead to an empty
future.’
’Drug addiction’ is the fifth execution in Barnardo’s drive to
reposition itself as a charity that works with children in the community
rather than running orphanages. Developed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the
campaign continues the theme of ’giving children back their future’.
Andrew Nebel, director of marketing and communications at Barnardo’s,
said: ’We wanted to show that any drug addict was once a baby, with a
whole future ahead of him or her. This is not gratuitous, shocking or
distressing. This is talking about the real world.’
The ads, which break in the national press on 22 January, tie in with
research which shows that 70 per cent of teenagers consider drugs to be
the worst threat to a child’s future.
Nebel said both the syringe and tourniquet in the ad were added to the
picture in post-production, and that the baby’s contorted mouth was
taken from a separate shot of the child licking chocolate. The filth,
stains and rubbish on the floor were also added afterwards.
The ads were written by Alex Grieve, photographed by Nick Georghiou and
art directed by Adrian Rossi. Media for the campaign is being handled by
John Ayling Associates.
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