REGINA – On Sunday tens of millions of people will be glued to their televisions for Super Bowl 49 and there’s one advertisement that is sure to catch their attention.
In the video you can hear a woman phone 911 and pretend to order a pizza in an effort to avoid tipping off her abuser.
The ad won’t be aired in Canada but it’s already circulating online.
Marketing Professor at the University of Regina, Lisa Watson, said she was disappointed in the PSA given the events over the past year.
The NFL came under fire in 2014 for its handling of a few high profile abuse cases, including a video that surfaced of former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice viciously punching his fiancé in an elevator.
“Given the history that’s happened over the last year, I found it really disappointing that it didn’t take that extra step,” explained Watson.
She added the PSA is provocative but fumbles before reaching the end zone.
“This is for the public to say ‘you need to know more about this’ and be able to be comfortable supporting these woman, but they don’t tell us how to do it.”
Others credit the video for its ability to reach a vast audience and bring the issue of domestic violence to the forefront, including the executive director at Regina’s YWCA, Deanna Elias-Henry.
“It’s still happening today and people need to be aware that it’s happening in their own communities, and that it happens at all levels of social and economic influence,” she explained.
Comments