Missing Child Model
August 28, 2010 at 5:41 pm 5 comments
A child’s innocent gaze peers through the posters plastered all around Achrafiyeh. Those sad eyes got to me. Suddenly flashbacks to the missing children on the milk cartons from the 90s.
As I walked the slope from ABC to Sessine Square, his eyes followed me. What happened to this child? When did he go missing? Has he been found yet? His poor parents. What a terrible thing to have to go through!
Once I got to Sessine Square, the posters changed.The larger posters explained that this was part of a larger campaign.
September 3-4 is the International Day of the Disappeared and the posters are calling for a solution. I felt better in knowing that perhaps that sad-eyed boy was never really missing. I hope so at least, or that is a unfair way to promote the campaign.
I’m very curious to know the story behind the little boy and whether he really went missing or is just a model for the posters..
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Afterthoughts:
Soon after I wrote this post, one of my Facebook friends posted a link for the group promoting this campaign. It turns out this child was just a model for the teaser campaign. The organizers, thinking they were being witty, played on our sympathies to promote their cause. I agree with Meedo (read comment below) that they should have used a real case instead of fabricating one. This is a very sensitive topic and though it helped get them attention, to approach it this way is simply not ethical.
They got people looking for the child, asking for phone numbers to reach out and even offering to post more of the photos around. The people who took this seriously were naturally very upset when they found out it was just a teaser.
Read the heated debates and comments on the group’s Facebook page. The organizers are fighting fire with fire. Is that really the best way to promote a campaign?
Entry filed under: Floating. Tags: campaign, Civil War, international day of the disappeared, Lebanon, milk carton, missing, missing children, posters.
1.
BeirutBoy | August 28, 2010 at 5:49 pm
That’s such an innocent looking kid. So cute!
I’m guessing he’s a model, though.
Wish innocent kids like that never get lost…ever.
2.
Lorena | August 28, 2010 at 6:02 pm
3anjad, no child should ever get lost
3.
Meedo Taha | August 28, 2010 at 6:03 pm
That’s a stupid campaign poster. How about they use the photo of a real missing child and actually post his name and contact info of his parents and maybe have a few different version using different missing children instead of that over-privileged osh-kosh model kid? At least then the poster would be a first step in the actual campaign instead of an ad.
Idiots.
I agree.
4.
Jad | August 30, 2010 at 4:03 am
Its like China during the Olympics, the boy with the good voice was hidden to have a prettier boy on stage with a voice-over for the national anthem. Image is everything in the media and advertising esp in Lebanon.
5.
Liliane | August 30, 2010 at 9:48 am
when i first started reading the post, i thought, wow this pic is so expressive, you would think he’s a model.
nevertheless, i don’t think it’s wrong that they used a model, the eyes do call for sympathy. it’s a good campaign, I just wish there is something we’ll be able to do.
Meedo, if they choose one child, what about the others? why this child! usually they put a compilation of photos of all the missing ones, I’ve seen it, it’s pretty nice, but I guess they did it this way explicitly as it is a teaser and does do the right effect.
we shouldn’t over think such things, the campaign is for a good cause, we should focus on that more.
thanks for sharing this