Anti-Child Abuse Ad Has A Secret Message For Kids

A new ad campaign in Spain aimed at combating child abuse is raising awareness in the most public way it knows how: posters of abused children displayed to the masses. There is a catch, though -- only children can see the abused faces. Reaching a kid who is a victim of abuse can be difficult. Often, a child is accompanied by his or her abuser, which can make verbalizing the presence of abuse that much scarier.

The Spanish children's advocacy group, Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk (ANAR), created the ads using lenticular printing, which allows different images to be shown on the same display, depending on the angle it is viewed from. So an adult who is taller than 4-foot-5, standing directly in front of the ad, sees a picture of a child with the message, "Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it." ANAR posted a video to YouTube explaining how the ad works, and the technology behind it.

However, a child 4-foot-5 or shorter sees the same child but with bruises on his or her face. The message is also different: "If somebody hurts you, phone us and we'll help you."

Several people who have seen the story on the site PetaPixel like the idea behind the ad. One person wrote, "Very clever use of photo tech. I hope it helps someone." However, some people are concerned that because of the story on PetaPixel, the ad campaign might be less effective, since everyone has now been let in on the secret.