The Nine Network has been accused of contributing to a “conspiracy of silence” after it moved a hard-hitting ad for charity organisation Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (ASCA) to a late night, low rotation slot following complaints.
The community service announcement, created by Whybin\TBWA Sydney, depicts a father giving an unconventional speech at his daughter’s wedding to highlight the long-term affects of child abuse, and is now being shown sparingly after a 10.30pm watershed.
Nine has not disclosed how many complaints it received about the ad, but it’s believed many of the complaints centred around the ads being shown during Aussie Ladette to Lady last Tuesday night, where one of the “ladettes” admitted she had suffered abuse.
The Advertising Standards Bureau received over 20 complaints about the ad, although it cannot take any action as it is not a commercial ad.
Cathy Kezelman, chair of ASCA, said the aim of the campaign is to create a shift in society’s attitude to an issue that has long been taboo. “This conspiracy of silence is exactly what we’ve been trying to combat and by taking the ads off, (the Nine Network) is perpetuating that silence and an issue that needs to be out there and exposed is being hidden yet again,” she said.
“The ads need to be confronting because there is a lot of resistance around this issue – people would rather believe that survivors just get over it, that they should shut up – but the reality is when you’ve been abused as a child you don’t have the capacity often to do the things that other people take for granted. You do need help and you certainly do need understanding and acceptance from a community,” she added.
A spokesman for Nine said it was “taking precautions to ensure it is placed in the schedule appropriately”, adding that Nine provides $30 million-worth of community service announcement airtime each year.
In the ad, the father drops sexually-suggestive jokes about his daughter to the wedding crowd who laugh along. Lines such as “I look at Melissa today and I still remember the first words I said to her after sex – don’t tell Mum!” have the crowd in hysterics.
The ad ends with the chilling tag line: “If only it was this easy to get over child abuse. For more than 2 million Australians it isn’t”.
