A few weeks ago “the dress” went viral all over social media. It was simply a photo of a dress that either looked black and blue to some people or white and gold to others. All of this, of course, depended on a variety of factors including the brightness settings on each phone. Basically, people obsessed over it and argued endlessly.

So, in our last issue, we wrote about how there are more important things to think about beyond the whole black and blue debate. One non-profit organization took that same idea and created an ad to refocus society’s priorities in powerful way.

In an ad released by the Salvation Army, a woman posed lounging on the floor in a white and gold version of “the dress.” The woman was obviously blackened and bruised from abuse and the caption read: “Why is it so hard to see black and blue.” Another part of the ad says “because they cover it with white and gold” and the photo is of a woman putting concealer on her bruises. In addition to these images, statistics were put into the caption as well. One of the statistics said: “The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in six women are victims of abuse. Stop abuse against women.”

Upon first glance, the ad instantly caught my attention. Even though the images were fairly simple, they said a lot and the message was very clear: we need to stop letting domestic violence happen. I applaud the Salvation Army for its brave ad and hopefully others will follow in its footsteps.