I’ve seen the advert a few times now and I find myself wondering just what it’s meant to deliver and to whom. That, and ‘how much did it cost’!
On the whole it doesn’t seem to add much to the ‘dementia conversation’ and simply relies on a (vicarious) ‘shock factor’ to gain the attention of a “
… general public who might not know much, if anything, about dementia”. But - even if they’re interested (and the bullet point research figures below suggest few are) - I don’t think it will particularly gain their attention because - unlike those of us who familiar with dementia - many who are unfamiliar WILL find it ‘shocking’ so won’t they simply turn over or go and make some tea when the ad starts? And for those who stick with it, does it tell them anything more than ‘
with dementia you die’ again and again and again. An unremitting message of no-hope!
As an advert it’s obviously the experience of ‘dementia’ as seen through the eyes of an advertising agency. The contrast of light, colour and physical movement with dark and stillness; silhouette and shadow; the use of soft, sympathetic/empathetic Scottish voice to narrate; the repetition of ‘
she died, she died, she died …’ but to what end, what objective?
I’m assuming the objective/point of the advert are what’s set out in this extract taken from Harriet's post, post #1
"
One in three of us born in the UK today will develop dementia in our lifetime. It’s the biggest health and social care challenge we face, but we know awareness of and concern about dementia amongst the general public are low.
Research shows that:
- 22% believe that dementia is likely to affect them or a loved one
- 20% of people are confident that they understand what dementia is
- Only 37% believe that urgent action is needed to support people with dementia.
These stats mean that it’s not the priority it deserves or needs to be, which is why it’s so important we run these emotive campaigns that also highlight the help and hope we provide.
This advertising campaign will be aimed at the wider general public who might not know much, if anything, about dementia. It reflects the devastating reality of dementia that we hear about so often at Alzheimer’s Society and on this community."
“ …
[W]e know awareness of and concern about dementia amongst the general public are low.” So, in essence it seems that the objective is simply to ‘raise awareness” in the general public? How/when is the success of the advert to be measured?
Raising awareness might have been achieved far more effectively - I think - by having a ten or fifteen second advert of a close up of someone simply shouting, loudly, aggressively, at the camera, things like ‘DEMENTIA STEALS YOUR DIGNITY!’ or ‘DEMENTIA WILL MAKE YOU FORGET YOU WERE MARRIED FOR FORTY YEARS!’ or ‘DEMENTIA MEANS FAMILY MEMBERS WILL REJECT YOU’ and so on and so on; then repeating those ten or fifteen times a night. I’d put money on that garnering public attention.
Besides an easy to miss spoken reference the advert does nothing to tell the general public what links the Alzheimer’s Society and dementia. ‘
The wider general public who know little about it’ may be wondering, if this is about dementia then why isn’t the ‘Dementia Society’ taking the lead?
Then there’s the bit ‘...
so important we run these emotive campaigns that also highlight the help and hope we provide’. Does the advert do that? As far as I can see the strap line is:
"
With dementia you don’t just die once, which is why, at Alzheimer's Society, we'll be with you again and again and again."
But that doesn’t highlight help and hope to me; it says nothing of what the Alzheimer’s Society DOES to be there ‘
again and again and again’. To anyone not familiar with dementia, to say you die ‘
again and again and again’ may be seen as over egging the pudding, so to speak. You die once. Only once. But dementia hollows you out, strips you of your character and personality, ability to think, and so on. The advert is - to my mind - trying to be too clever in describing the erosion and loss of character, abilities, personal qualities, and so forth.
As an advert it’s obviously quite polished but I’m not quite sure what it delivers. Or that it will gain traction with the intended audience. And I think the failure to mention research, or how to donate, were missed opportunities.
