最近兩天非常痛苦，因為我在翻譯08年坎城報業廣告金獅獎的得獎作品，印度WPP集團的Contract廣告製作的，“如何傳承家族姓氏”廣告。
這廣告，我光把文字抄下來時就覺得很不舒服。後來找到文案Anshumani Khanna的資料，起初我非常驚訝發現她是位女性，後來驚訝她的年輕（她去年獲得坎城報業廣告金獅獎時才26歲。今年都可以再去比坎城青年創意競賽）。而且我覺得文案中的第三點不合邏輯。因此寫信問她，我也忍不住跟她說，我光必須翻譯這則廣告都覺得好不舒服，她作為撰文當時究竟感覺如何，她的回覆讓我非常感動。徵得她同意之後刊登在下面：
Aadhar廣告可能是我曾經寫過最難的東西。我花了很多時間研究，而剛開始閱讀相關資料的時候我太震駭了。每次開始讀google丟出來的資料時，我常常跑到廁所去嘔吐。我的腦袋被問題充滿。剛開始時我想：我怎麼可能有辦法做這個議題的廣告？但是我讀愈多東西之後，我就愈相信我必須要把這廣告做出來。因為竟然有一百萬以上的人實際在從事墮殺女性胚胎的事情。而且還認為這種事情沒什麼大不了。只是殺掉一個胚胎而已。我想，要是我找到的東西就這樣撼動我，（把這些東西寫出來）可能也會給讀到的人同樣的感覺。
要改變人的態度很難。在我的國家，墮殺女嬰已經是多年的習俗。因為必須殺掉女嬰把位子讓給男生。因為男生才是養家工作傳承家族姓氏的人。女生卻只是負擔。這很變態。聽到的人都會覺得噁心，這卻是事實。
我們的客戶，刊登這廣告的非營利組織，是由一位85歲高齡的女士經營。她一生都為這個主題奮鬥。一開始時我們對於她會不會同意刊登描述這麼露骨的文字也沒有把握。但是她對這則文案的信心也帶給我們很大的希望。讓我們相信我們做得對。
Aadhar在坎城因為這件作品獲得的金獅獎，和其他許多之後獲得的獎，是很大的恩賜。但是我最珍惜的還是，這則廣告在三個月內，讓25位女嬰沒有被墮殺。
關於你對那段文案的疑問。事實上，墮胎過程中必須確保胚胎活著，因為這樣才容易把胚胎殺掉然後取出。如果胚胎在子宮內就死去，墮胎的過程會搞得很複雜。聽起來很可怕，卻是事實。
Writing the Aadhar ad, was perhaps the most difficult thing that I’ve ever done. It took days of research and when I first started reading about it, I was shocked. So much so, that I found myself in the loo, barfing, each time I opened the links that google threw up. At first, I was disgusted with myself. A million questions ran through my head. The first was, how could I do something like this? But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I got. There are a million people out there, who actually practice female foeticide, thinking that it’s nothing much. Just a foetus, you’re terminating. I thought that if the material I found, could shake me up so much, it would probably have a similar impact on the people who read it.
It’s tough trying to change a mindset, and in my country this has been a practice for years. Girls are gotten rid of to make way for a boy, because they earn, they work and they carry the family name forward. A girl on the other hand is just an added burden. It’s sick. And it turns your stomach, but it’s true.
Our client, the NGO who ran the ad, is an 85 year old woman. Who’s devoted her life to the cause. We were rather sceptical at first, if she would run something so graphic, but her conviction in the writing gave us tremendous hope. And we knew we were doing the right thing.
While the gold at Cannes, and the many other awards that Aadhar picked up, were a great blessing, I feel the one I find most precious is what Aadhar achieved with the ad. In a span of 3 months, they managed to save 25 girls from being killed.
As far as the line goes, well, it’s imperative to keep the foetus alive, because it’s easier to pull it out and kill. If it collapses within the uterus, the task becomes messy. I know it sounds horrible, but it’s true.
我知道很多人在說很多得獎稿都是飛機稿。但是假若你像Anshumani Khanna和她那位高齡85歲的客戶Leela Dave女士這樣，面對一個這樣具有爭議性的議題，而且因為身為印度女性更加無法將之忘卻，我不覺得光用飛機稿三個字能夠抹去這件廣告作品的價值。
