In a pro bono initiative for the Fondation Marie-Vincent’s annual public awareness campaign battling child abuse, Montreal-based TAM-TAMTBWA is putting stark creative where it’s sure to be seen. A terrifyingly effective 30-second PSA spot will air intermittently until the end of the year on such channels as TVA, CFCF, TQS, Radio-Canada and some specialties.

But what may prompt even more attention is a sidewalk campaign in the borough of Ville-Marie featuring 20 painted outlines of children’s bodies at busy intersections along with the slogan ‘Les agressions sexuelles tuent l’enfance’ (Sexual abuse kills childhood). Deliberately evoking crime scenes, the ecologically-friendly graffiti dramatizes the violence inherent in child abuse. Some of the silhouettes are also being adapted for posters that will appear on city bus shelters until May 15.

Sophie Le Bigot, strategic planning and development coordinator at TAM-TAM/TBWA – which did both the creative and the media buys – tells MiC that ‘scores of people donated their time, talents and energy . . . to help sensitize the public about such an important issue.’

The TV spot can be viewed at www.tamtamtbwa.com.