This disturbingly poignant, documentary-style PSA takes us into the business of child pornography. At every step in the chain of abuse–from the buying and selling of the child to transporting the child by truck to a remote dank location, to the filming of the child–the face of each person exploiting the child is replaced by a mask.
The mask is of a nondescript face, with each perpetrator having that same face. At the very end of the PSA, we find the actual human face is that of the ultimate customer, the man who is seated at his computer, looking at compromising images of the innocent, exploited child.
Then appearing on screen is the message: “Child Pornography. No Demand. No Supply.”
An end tag carries the logo for ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes).
The spot was directed by Asger Leth of Partizan Midi Minuit, Paris, for BETC Euro RSCG, Paris, for ECPAT and its longtime sponsor Air France.
The BETC Euro RSCG team included creative director Florence Bellisson, art director Eric Astorgue, copywriter Jean-Christophe Royer, producer David Green and agency supervisors Valerie Albou, Muriel Keromnes, Magali Heberard and Timoti Auscher.
Director Leth has a documentary pedigree. Among his credits is Ghost of Cite Soleil, a documentary on the slum townships of Haiti.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More