Your ability to silence has been firmly established, Ohio State. There was no need for the reminder.

Taking tone-deafness and ignorance to a new low, Ohio State is promoting this weekend’s game at Penn State with a marketing campaign with “Silence” as its tag line, and an image of receiver Austin Mack putting his finger to his lips.

Let’s unpack this, shall we? This is the same team that was without its coach for the first three weeks of the season while he was suspended for failing to have the slightest clue about domestic violence. Twice in the last 10 years, Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer knew about allegations of domestic violence involving one of his assistants – one of which was accompanied by a police report labeling Zach Smith as “the aggressor” – and twice he did nothing about it.

Meyer went weeks without mentioning Courtney Smith’s name or apologizing to her. Even after his suspension, after he’d supposedly been “educated” about domestic violence, Meyer has continued to discredit Courtney Smith, refusing to acknowledge that she’d been abused.

And we wonder why women stay silent, when men in positions of power, men who have the ability to actually affect change, turn a blind eye.

As for that assistant who was accused of abuse, Zach Smith was the wide receivers’ coach. Yes, that’s right. Not only is Ohio State touting silence, it used a receiver to amplify its message.

Why the marketing department didn’t just use a middle finger in the ad, I don’t know. Because that’s what Ohio State is essentially saying.

This is an especially fraught time in our country as we consider how we respond to domestic and sexual violence. As the Senate weighs whether to confirm Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court amid allegations that he abused women when he was younger, the question has been asked time and again: Why don’t victims report abuse right away? Why should they be believed if all they have is their word?

(We don’t hold robbery victims to that same standard, but I digress.)

There are myriad answers to both questions, but at the center is a toxic culture of silence. Abusers feel free to ravage their victims’ bodies and self-esteem because, historically, so few have raised their voices in protest. Those who are abused bury their experiences because, historically, so few have raised their voices in support.

It isn’t just women, either. Earlier in the summer, Ohio State was sued by former male wrestlers who said the university ignored their complaints of sexual abuse by the team physician. More than 100 men have said they were molested by Richard Strauss from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

Yes, this might be "just" an ad. But given what Ohio State has been confronted with in recent months, silence is nothing to be prized, and it's certainly nothing to promote.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.