Salvation Army Uses "The Dress" To Raise Domestic Violence Awareness
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – "The dress that broke the internet" is doing it once more—but for a whole other reason.
The dress, and whether it's white and gold or black and blue, was trending all over social media, and even dominated discussions at work and at the dinner table last Friday.
CLICK HERE To Watch Maggie Newland's Report
A week later, the dress—which was actually black and blue—is once again a trending topic on the Internet—this time serving as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) created by the South African chapter of the Salvation Army.
The PSA, tweeted by @SalvationArmySA early Friday, features a photo of a blonde woman in the dress, which is pictured in white and gold, covered in bruises—busted lip and all.
Words on the image read, "Why Is It So Hard To See Black And Blue," in smaller font it says, "The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in 6 women are victims of abuse. Stop violence against women."
Why is it so hard to see black and blue? One in 6 women are victims of abuse. #StopAbuseAgainstWomen pic.twitter.com/FgDdKdsMMb
— TheSalvationArmySA (@SalvationArmySA) March 6, 2015
The ad definitely sparked the interest of four young women interviewed by CBS4's Maggie Newland. The group said social media may be the best way to get through to their generation.
"It's very important. It's a lot of conversation starters and just a way of all of us connecting through social media," said Hanney Narkir.
As for the ad itself.
"I think it's smart because it already has a lot of exposure and it just adds to it," said Anne Mathieu. "Just by seeing the dress people are going to want to stop and take a second look and read about it."
But the group said they feel domestic violence is rarely talked about online or in person.
"They don't feel protected and they feel ashamed or afraid to talk about it. So it doesn't come up, even not only the woman being hurt or attacked, but the people around her are being hush, hush," said Mathieu.
Although not everyone understood the ad.
"I find that fashion and domestic violence just it doesn't relate," said Carlos Escalona.
Others say it may be just enough to get people talking.
"Why not? Try whatever works and see," said Narkir.
And definitely something is working as the PSA has gone viral, accompanied by the hashtag #StopAbuseAgainstWomen" as well as the #blackandblue #whiteandgold trending last week.