My two cents on the whole exploding kids environmental ad:

Everyone knows that bad publicity is publicity all the same. Richard Curtis, a prolific director, couldn't unintentionally stumble into tastelessness. Advertisement is the art of effectiveness. Effectiveness is a function of a goal and its fulfillment. In this case, those lines aren't easy to follow. In fact they're intentionally blurred.

The ad isn't effective as a progressive argument and it's not supposed to be. It's effective in challenging apathy. I must assume that its goal is the same. In an industry founded upon giving voice through media, sometimes an unspoken motive is often the most easily satisfied. In all communication, it is as valuable a skill to conceal as it is to convey. I'm not saying the work is good, though; in fact, I'm not a fan of the gimmick.

The casual way in which the advertisements' button-pushers address violence is a blind caricature of the perceivedly unheeding public and their carelessly-committed sins. It's supposed to come across as subtle, even subliminal, and vilify authorities at all levels of society who refuse to compromise on their stance (whether it is status quo or status nova). This would at least make sense if the people they were nonchalantly eviscerating seemed oppressed, or even innocent. Instead, they are portrayed as empty-eyed, peevish dopes.

Even more confusing are the innocent underlings that witness in momentary horror. They seem voiceless, powerless, and somewhat unfeeling. Which one of these groups do we relate to? What depicted behavior is advocated? None of them. There is no side to sympathize with in the message— it threatens everyone. By embodying all of the targeted vice without providing an alternative virtue, this advertisement pushes the viewer further away from the message.

I don't want to leave my point in uncertain terms. In effect, this short film will hurt more than it helps. Hurts who? Everyone. No matter what the film is, it looks and sounds like desperation. This desperation is a polarizing thing— it mistakenly misrepresents those who believe in 10:10's cause as bloodthirsty, even terroristic. Instead of appealing to an apathetic public, it will push both sides of debate further away from each other, ultimately forcing the issue out of reasonable, appropriate discussion.

Reds and blues —if not on the street or in their PTA meetings, then through TV, youtube, and the like— will be riding the waves coming from this misstep for a while. Let's put politics aside in the interest of an objective conclusion on this one. The truth is: With the hopes of forcefully saying something worthwhile, this advertisement fails to do anything but speak loudly. Like shouting incomprehensibly in the supermarket, the campaign is childish in its bid for attention. I will not abide such logically bankrupt work.