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The world of advertising is tricky. Images and words are combined with an explicit purpose in mind -- to catch the viewer's attention and, hopefully, leave an indelible mark.
When an ad is placed in an area of rapid transit (like the bus posters which ASRM is using), the message needs to hit home really fast, which often means using strong, attention-getting symbols like a large baby bottle being used as an ashtray, as it is in the PSA on smoking's effects on fertility.
In the case of medical and many other (for example, social) conditions, no single ad or even an entire ad campaign is enough to provide consumers with the level of education which is warranted. Herein may lie one of the misunderstandings at the root of some of the personalized, angry posts found in online forums:
As AIA's Madsen put it, "ASRM cannot do everything at one time. This public service campaign was not necessarily geared to people suffering with reproductive disease already. This campaign was geared to the general population [who] are not as educated about infertility as those already suffering. It was geared towards prevention!"
According to the ASRM and its supporters, the controversy and complaints center on a misunderstanding of exactly who is being targeted by the campaign's ads.
In a requested statement, ASRM representative Sean Tipton wrote that their intent is to "put infertility into the mainstream of American medicine." They and others hope that such broad attention may result in better insurance coverage and more research.
Tipton added that those constructing the ASRM campaign knew that they would have to fade some heat, but that the message of prevention was deemed important enough to risk some attacks.
He reiterates the intent is not to blame victims of infertility as responsible for their disease. "We understand well how difficult infertility can be, and do not want to make it any harder for anyone. We also understand that for many cases of infertility the cause is not known, or was in no way influenced by the patient."
© Tracy Morris
