In order to empower at-risk children, Spanish organisation Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation has launched an anti-abuse advertising campaign embedded with a secret message. When the average adult views the bus stop billboard, they will only perceive a disheartened boy with the words "Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it." However, when viewed from below the height of the average 10-year-old, the boy's face appears bruised and the text now reads, "If somebody hurts you, phone us and we'll help you," alongside the number for their anti-abuse helpline.

This feat of eye magic is achieved through a lenticular top layer, which displays different images at varying angles. While it is chilling to ponder that ANAR is targeting children travelling with their abusers, it is also inspiring that such innovation is stemming from the non-profit sector. And, thus, that the campaign aims to empower children, rather than sell them hamburgers or new phones.

However, some fear that this will trigger new advertising strategies aiming to sell from the waist down — targeting kids into asking for specific brands upon seeing messages their parents have missed. As Gizmodo's Andrew Liszewski asks, "how long will it be before toy companies start doing to the same thing to hawk their products directly at kids?" (We give them three months.)

It's still not as much of a worry as the Minority-Report-esque interactive billboards that IBM are reportedly developing. Apparently they could scream out our kid's name to tell them they could use a Guinness. Eeek.

Published on May 08, 2013 by Nishan David