I came across
this article and while googling for more info, saw it was kicked around at FR. I thought it might make for some good discussion (and a first try at a diary).
Apparently, society has become so immune to the sight of real dead and dismembered bodies, so jaded by the real horrors and evil or war, that UNICEF must make its anti-war statement by showing a bucolic Smurf village annhilated by bombs. Leaving a sobbing, tattered Baby Smurf to be the symbol imploring "Don't let war affect the lives of our children."
I am reminded of the "Daisy" ad run in the 60's during the Goldwater/Johnson campaign (and recently revived by MoveOn). A little girl plucks petals as a countdown to an explosion and a mushroom cloud...I was a little girl myself, and it scared me mightily. I can only wonder what the UNICEF ad will do to kids that see it.
But I wonder what this says about us? All the speculation that the honest ugliness of the Abu Ghraib photos would incite a larger anti-war sentiment...are we kidding ourselves? Will most folks just yawn and say they've seen better special effects in the movies? Not many people in my circle want to discuss such things, so I bring it to you...