Thursday, 5 June 2008

Questions for ALAC

Below are a series of questions I am considering sending to ALAC, to continue our correspondence about the Lisa advert. I'd really appreciate your feedback on them, and suggestions of other questions you might have. Thanks to Anna McM for helping me out with the list already. I'm still awaiting a response (any response) from the ASA in reply to my last missive to them.

Conception
Which advertising agency did ALAC use for this campaign?
What was the brief they were given by ALAC for what became the Lisa ad?
At any stage of the ad's development was it suggested that the ad focus on the rapist rather than the victim? (Lyn has a fantastic post on this issue by the way)

Content
Is the viewer intended to perceive any message as regards to the drinking behaviour of the rapist? If so, is his drinking supposed to be understood to be a factor in his behaviour?
Did ALAC consider the impact that the Lisa ad might have on victims of rape and sexual assault who might view it?

Focus Groups
You mentioned that ALAC had run the advertisement past a number of focus groups, including "young women," prior to screening.
Who were the participants in these focus groups? (In terms of what were the demographics of the group[s], not names and serial numbers!)
What messages exactly did they take away from the Lisa ad?
Was there any examination of the issue of victim-blaming, or were participants simply asked whether the advert was likely to influence their drinking behaviour?

Consultation
In your response you stated that ALAC had consulted with various social agencies in relation to the new ad campaign.
What was the process and timeline of consultation?
Who were these agencies and what feedback did they give in regard to the Lisa ad?

Complaints
How many complaints has ALAC received regarding the Lisa ad?
What were the concerns raised by the complainants?
Why has ALAC sent a standard "cut and paste" response to at least three complainants that I am aware of which a) does not address the concerns they have raised in their complaint and b) incorrectly claims only two complaints have been made about the Lisa ad (and that the other complaint is not about the victim-blaming issue)?

Promotion
How many spots has ALAC booked for the Lisa ad and how long is it likely to continue to be aired?
Is the campaign restricted to television advertising, or will parts of the Lisa ad, or references to the Lisa ad, be used in other media eg radio, newspaper or magazine advertising, bus stop signs, etc?

Finally
Has ALAC learnt anything from the complaints it has received in regard to the Lisa ad and will this change the way that ALAC approach this issue in the future? If yes, how? If no, why not?

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What say you, dear readers?

PS There is now a Facebook group you can join to express your opposition to the Lisa ad. Hopefully it might be the start of some collective action on this issue. Writing blog posts and complaint letters is kind of solitary; worthy, but not as strong as a group effort.

PPS Somehow I missed this previously. It's coverage of the ASA decisions, including the decision to screen all three ads in the campaign after the watershed (8.30pm).

6 comments:

Anna said...

I had a glance at the research section of ALAC's website. There is nothing specifically about the relationship between sexual assault and alcohol consumption. This may be contained in some of the other reports about drinking behaviour in various age groups, but it seems unlikely (I can't open these reports to find out, for some reason).

We normally expect public health campaigns to be evidence-based. I'm interested in what, if any, research ALAC based the Lisa ad on.

Anonymous said...

Clemenger BBDO is the ad agency.

Anonymous said...

I got drunk one night at some "friends" house and passed out on the couch. I woke up later on because one of my so called "friends" was in the process of raping me.

Society blames me for being raped because I got drunk, the rapist is blameless and I "asked for it" for putting myself in a "vulnerable" position.

This happened over 20 years ago. Nothing's changed much has it?

Julie said...

Thanks for the feedback to date, please do let me know if you have more questions.

@ Anon Friday - I've heard similar stories from others too. You were not to blame. It really depresses me how many women seem to have had the experience of being woken by someone raping them. It seems to me that the only way anyone could possibly construe the victim as at fault in that scenario would be to say we shouldn't trust our friends, we shouldn't trust men. And that's just so wrong.

Anonymous said...

Those questions all sound excellent to me!

Anna said...

Hi Anon - I just want to offer you aroha and solidarity. There are heaps of us, many blaming ourselves sadly. Maybe this growing blog discussion will be the start of both some collective action and collective healing.