There is a direct link on my home page under Breaking News to an article about a controversial new ad on Belgian TV. The purpose is to raise awareness of Alzheimer's Disease. The result is a wave of controversy. Please click the link, read the article, view the ad, and post your comments here.
For those who would rather copy and paste - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/belgian-alzheimers-psa-controversy-ad-video_n_1435235.html
I don't know what's wrong with me...I chuckled. Probably 'cause he's such a cute kid. I dunno...I guess it struck me as absurd enough without representing a more realistic and sinister serious case of advantage-taking, or scam by evil crooks or something.
That said, I certainly understand the controversy. AD is not cute.
Em-I'm glad you posted first. I also thought it was funny and absurd. I really don't understand the purpose-if there even was one. I have been guilty of saying there is no such thing as leftovers for a person with dementia. It's not demeaning in a cruel way. I don't make my way through each day expecting "outsiders" to understand the horror of the disease.
i thought it pretty insensitive to project a family member taking advantage of the AD person. i hope it doesnt give anyone ideas. any ad seems to be justified if it gets the word out about AD. i dunno i had mixed feelings about that one. it would have been better if he would have said grandma you already gave me pocket money and return the rest.what kind of message are they sending to the young kids?? nope not liking it.
I don't know. I've heard of enough cases of children, other relatives and friends taking advantage of people with dementia that it doesn't disturb me that they portrayed it. They might have wanted to emphasize that people with dementia are vulnerable.
If you script a short ad that penetrates just how vulnerable AD sufferers are how do you do it?
If you portray a stranger taking advantage of them or how much trouble it can be for them to cope with very simple 'normal' things it's nowhere near as powerful or disturbing as when we see how completely incapable she is even though she looks perfectly normal.
Telling people the truth straight up hasn't been terrribly successful anywhere. You have go out of the box and get through people's resistance. The controversy this ad has apparently raised is the mark of it's own success.
Don't forget that they portrayed the truth. This woman is unable to cope even though she can answer the door and appear ok to the eye. They put her in a nice house and she always had the money to keep giving it to the actor who portrayed a grandson. She may be wealthy, we don't know. And grandparents LOVE giving things to their grandchildren. So it's sitting right on top of a hot wire.
I congratulate this group who way over in tiny Belgium have managed to shine a light on just how helpless Alzheimer's sufferers are in a way that is making people talk about it. I disagree with the commenter on the Huffington Post that he would love to beat the poor actor daily. In this case the medium truly is the message.
And if there is anyone capable of taking advantage of an elder, it is a teenager. I knew someone in his twenties who planned the same exact thing with his grandmother. He would ask for his birthday present early to pay for a vacation, counting on her forgetting about it and getting a gift again on his birthday. We all told him that he was terrible.
I agree, Wolf. My first thought was about how vulnerable an AD person is. They are not capable of protecting themselves from manipulation and we need to be vigilant.
Again, stereotyped alzheimer forgetfulness that seems to describe the disease.....why don't they show the other worse symptoms??? Like loss of speech, personality changes, agressiveness, etc.....
I have yet to see the "truth" portrayed. I don't know, if this was "real" and I saw it happen, I would want to kick the little twit, and right where it was suggested too!
In an ad you have very little time. To try to convey more than one aspect of Alz would probably fail. Plus they wanted to generate sympathy for the person with Alz. If they showed some of the behaviors that we see, would they get any sympathy for the sufferer?
What they should do is multiple ads showing different aspects. And show the person with Alz with their caregiver so the viewer can at least sympathize with him or her. But that takes more money.
I just returned from the Netherlands and learned that they deal with problems in very practical ways, from euthenasia to prostitution to marijuana use. I'm wondering if perhaps this ad is the first in a series and that they'll show the progression in further ads. I hope so.
It was of course produeced by the ALZ organization in Belgum, a charity. As much good as charities do, asking for donations is a huge part of their daily work.
The 'punch line' was "Give something BACK to people with Alzheimer's". In other words; all you sap suckers who have ever ripped off a person with dementia, why dont you relieve some of your guilt by donating something back to the organization who does some good for these helpless folks ??
An interesting way to ask for donations. Probably very targeted to the Flemish culture which is why it translates a little strange into 'American'.