"Back to School"

5 September 2023

45s

Back to cruel.

In an ideal world, education would look like a back to school ad, with a skip in every child's step and a year chock-full of potential. In an ideal world, The Diana Award would not have to release commercials like this.

Director Lucy Bridger lulls viewers into a false sense of security, as a boy walks to class in his fresh school uniform. Bright yellow stickers that read 'Blazers £18' and 'Trousers 2 for £12' suggest a good deal for parents, but the mood darkens as soon as he turns a corner.

The jolly music fades as he runs into a gang of older pupils, one of whom empties his £3 durable pencil case and another kicks him in the stomach with scuff-resistant shoes. It's a grim but effective twist on the language of back to school ads, and reminds us that without anti-bullying measures in place, a new year becomes a new nightmare.

UK

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