Day One: advert-body-3 by BBDO New York

The month of February is also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. To call attention, Day One and BBDO New York have released an animated film that warns teens of dating abuse.

The short film called ‘Sunshine’ taps into a disturbing teen relationship that seems innocent at first glance, but abusive when examined more closely.

The film, directed by Guilherme Marcondes, opens with an intentionally clichéd love at first sight romance. The two main characters quickly fall for each other, set to the upbeat classic song ‘Walkin’ on Sunshine’ by Katrina and the Waves. As the film progresses, however, we notice some warning signs — the man becomes more controlling and possessive, keeping tabs on the clothes she wears, the food she eats, and the people she associates with. This causes some of his earlier behavior to be re-evaluated, like his invasive selfie on her phone, or showing up uninvited at her front door. The signs are subtle at first, until it’s too late and the young woman seems stuck. By the end, the sweet, happy vibe of the song takes on a more ironic, dark twist.

The film is meant to highlight the fact that not all abuse is physical. Emotional and verbal abuse is often even more insidious and difficult to separate from devotion, which is succinctly captured in the film’s final line: don’t confuse love and abuse.