Milwaukee's Serve thrusts co-sleeping problem into public eye

The above picture is a print ad as part of Serve Marketing's campaign tackling the surge of co-sleeping deaths in Milwaukee in 2009. Milwaukee's non-profit advertising agency teamed up with the Milwaukee Health Department to combat this problem by thrusting the issue into the public eye with a series of controversial ads including the one pictured above. As usual with many of Serve's campaigns, several of the ads were subject to a great deal of backlash, claiming that they were over-the-top and graphic. Still, Serve aims to get people talking about issues regardless of how positive or negative the conversation is; based upon that criteria, this campaign was successful.

Similar to many of their previous efforts, I think the above ad is effective because of how over-the-top and disturbing it is. Giving the headboard a stony look to mimic a gravestone, it illustrates how morbid the problem is. In addition, the ad's lack of excessive copy benefits the impact; Serve often relies on the striking imagery to convey their message, and this ad is no different because the image and short text at the top spark immediate attention. While I am not the target of this campaign as I don't have any children, I was certainly drawn to the ad and became cognizant of what needs to change about the public issue. In that respect, the ad is extremely effective.