We’ve all seen the dark and disturbing PSAs about domestic abuse. Battered women, broken glass, angry, yelling partners. Yet society is still apathetic towards women who stay in violent domestic relationships. Some ask, “Why doesn’t she just leave?” and diminish the situation rather than lend support.

From deep emotional ties to fear to financial reliance, sometimes staying can feel like a woman’s only option. Working with Interval House, a shelter for abused women and children, agency Union learned something important: these women do try to leave. On average, a woman makes five attempts to leave an abusive relationship before they finally get out.

Interval House and Union looked to change social perceptions of abuse victims by starting a new conversation to help people feel empathy toward women who battle to leave abusive relationships.

Through a series of documentary-style videos, the team captured men’s memories of heartbreak and lost love from their stories about “The One That Got Away.”

By reframing the issue from the perspective of abusers, their lovelorn tales start sweet but end bitterly dark. The spots show hints of manipulation, possessiveness and aggression from the men and in the end it’s clear that “The One That Got Away” is actually the lucky woman who’s escaped domestic violence.

The organisation launched the campaign on Valentine’s Day to invert the conversation on relationships and love. The campaign started with a 90-second video and two 30-second videos on Facebook to generate awareness, engagement and scale.

With a media budget of $5,000, the videos were viewed by more than 600,000 people and started a conversation that took media by storm. Interval House earned more than 6.2 million PR impressions and the attention of actors like Ashton Kutcher and George Takei.

The organisation saw a 62% increase in donation page visits. During the campaign period, it also saw a 103% increase in visits to the “Get Help” page. In the end, the brand successfully changed a dangerous perception of women in abusive relationships and helped reinforce how important it is for them to become the one that got away.