Unlike recent graphic PSAs on various topics, the German ad below by Heyman Brand de Gelmini, for the Stop FGM Now coalition, quietly derives its impact by contrasting the near-faultless features of model Manon von Gerkan with the unexpected voiceover message that she'd be perfect ... if her clitoris were cut out. Whoa! You don't hear that sort of thing every day. And it's hard not to sit up and take notice. Still, I wonder if this approach is best. The spot's almost too restrained and stylized, creating a void between the bright images on screen and the dark horrors it seeks to eradicate. In making a measured appeal, it fails to shock the system, stir the heart or rattle the cages of the soul. Sadly, in the case of female genital mutilation, still widely practiced despite numerous anti-FGM efforts through the years, a more forceful opposition might be required to spur change. Via Osocio.

—Posted by David Gianatasio