Chilling bushfire safety message cleared by advertising watchdog
A “retraumatising” ad urging home owners to make detailed plans for bushfires has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Board.
The ad from the Victorian government features a blank screen with the sounds of a panicky family trying to make last moment plans as a smoke alarm sounds.
It was later attacked as being retraumatising for victims.
The ad was created by Badjar Ogilvy.
According to one complaint to the ASB:
“The advertisement implies that bushfires and escaping them are totally the responsibility of the individual – in the case of the 2009 Vic bushfire this was blatantly untrue communication and warnings were poor at best and non-existent in many cases. People with excellent preparation died. This ad is further traumatising an already traumatised community and compounding guilt and blame that you can rest assured is still there.”
However, the ASB ruled: “The Board noted that the advertisement was screened in Victoria and the complainants mentioned the after effects of the 2009 bush fire. The Board noted that many people were very badly affected by bushfires and that an advertisement such as this which suggests the death of a family is likely to be upsetting for many viewers the topic is very emotive and that some members of the community would find any mention of bush fires, including this advertisement, to be upsetting.
It added: “”The Board considered that whilst the advertisement would be upsetting for some members of the community the important community safety message needs to be broadcast.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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This is the most horrifying ad I have ever seen should be taken off the air.
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Personally, I think this ad is absolutely horrendous. The acting is terrible and literally just sounds like four actors in a room pretending to be in a life-threatening situation. I think it is a good concept for an ad that won’t work because of how poorly it was executed.
I also don’t entirely agree with the complaint quoted above. I don’t really get the impression that this ad is putting the entire responsibility on the individual to survive.
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Sounds like my house at dinner time.
Anyway here’s your award.
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If the ad stops people travelling into bush fires, then it has achieved its objective. If it stops people travelling into bush fires and saves lives then it is a very valid ad.
With all the rain and a recent drowning, we now need an ad for people during floods.
May the floods end soon and people get back to normality or are the floods a warning of what is to come and another result of global warming, like bush fires.
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