Advertisement Analysis, Essay Example

Advertising has long been a method in which companies within the business world, large and small have utilized in order to target their targeted audience. The utilization advertisements have been heavily used in influencing the targeted audience to buy their products, or persuade them. Advertisements are everywhere and are inundated in almost every facet of technology. Media relies heavily on ad placements and advertisements that are placed on radio, television, magazines, billboards, and on the internet, where they have developed into a common place fixture throughout the web. Companies both non-profit and for profit know that placing advertisements where they are able to be viewed, can greatly influence their recognition, vitality, and influence.

The main reasons for advertising areto influence the audience to purchase goods. However many non-profit companies have started to place my advertisements within the media in order to bring an important issue to the public notice. One of the most important tactics used in advertising is the power of persuasion. This is displayed in the advert analyzed in this paper, which displays a little girl with a horrific injury in which to invoke emotions and a conversation on car safety. The uses of powerful images used in advertisements are to play on the emotions of the audience and persuade them to take notice to the message that it is trying to convey. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of an advertisement that is used to generate reaction from their targeted audience.

Persuasive advertising usually draws on one central image or picture followed by a statement or statements as to what the image is alluding to and its purpose. It most generally follows the common phrase of a picture is worth a thousand words, and commonly relies on this notion to draw attention to the issue. In the case of the advert used for the French Safety Board (La SecuriteRoutiere) on the awareness of safe driving. Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death throughout the world, and have historically increased with the use of alcohol and other mind altering factors that include drugs, and distractions. More disturbingly the number of children involved in vehicular accidents and death has risen dramatically in recent years. This has influenced several organizations and governments around the world to call into a plan of action that will subside the number of casualties involved and the death rate of children. In order to get the message across the French government published the startling advertisement featuring a young girl with a horrific injury to her head, followed by a statement that alluded to the cause was from a car accident.

Advertisements are usedimmensely throughout the world. The consumer market has grown considerably thanks in part to globalization. Mass media plays an essential part in the way the companies are able to reach their audiences. Advertisements are utilized in applying to their selective audience openly or subliminally with their products. Advertisements are created make sure that they include the product, the brand name, the company name, and the reason of why the consumer has to have the product. Advertisements that are used for persuasive reasons use more imagery that will invoke a particular emotion in order to reach their audiences. Many non-profit companies have used advertisements in the same mass media outlets as major companies.

The advert used depicts a cute little girl looking towards the camera with a grotesque dent in her head that shows car paint along the side of her face. In the lower left corner is a message, “In Town, Car Accidents Don’t Just Happen to Cars. Slow Down.” The purpose of creating the advertisementwas designed to use the contrast of the object and the background in order to create pathos, logos, and ethos from the picture of the horribly injured little girl. The little girl pictured is around the age of five or six, and holds an innocent face that is stained with tears. The use of the little girl as the concentration object within the image is used in pathos method of invokingsympathy to draw attention to the problem. More importantly while pulling on the heartstrings of the viewers; it makes the audience question, “What if that were my child?” The little girl with the grotesque head injury shows the sad emotion splashed across her face that will greatly appeal to the viewer.

The injury depicted with a large dent in her head with paint scrapingsis usedto directly relate to that of a two car collision, or one car collision with a person. This will jerk the readers into seeing the reality of the extent of car accidents. Without having to go into much detail, the injury shows how the driver can impact life around them when they do not follow traffic safety.Just about everyone can relate to some child that they would not want to see be hurt. More significantly many have seen drivers that speed down residential streets, and disregard the traffic signs putting them and others at risk. Many drivers are often distracted, and most have come close to having an accident because they were disregarding traffic safety. The question that this advert entails are if the distraction is worth the price of a life. The advertisement generally appeals to people who get behind the wheel. The use of ethos with the placement of the French Safety Road sign shows the advert credibility.  It makes it clear that it is a well-known organization in France that is promoting the message of driving safely. This piece of the advertisement is essential in gaining trust with the viewer’s so they can trust the advertisement is reliable in its information to draw attention to this important issue.

The utilization of logos used in adding the statement “In Town, Car Accidents Do Not Just Happen to Cars.” This statement is to imply that a car accident does not just lead to property and material damages, but also the loss of innocent life. The physical loss of the innocent is much greater and irreversible for families and societies that are greatly affected.  The statement is telling the general audience that they need to slow down. This is especially true when driving through residential neighborhoods where families and children will be out. It is fairly commonin neighborhoods to see signs that say “children at play” or “drive slow.” Drivers should obey these traffic signs to prevent an accident from occurring. This is seen in several examples where children have run in the road with the driver unable to stop in time to avoid hitting them.The little girl is depicted showing what could happen if she was hit by a car or cars. The main purpose of this advertisement is to get drivers to slow down when they are in neighborhoods around the towns.

This advertisement is effective in getting its message across to the general public. The use of persuasion advertisements is to influence, bring attention to, and persuade the general public on an important issue. In this case, the problem is about road safety, and the significance of realizing that driving recklessly not only can do harm to property but to precious cargo that cannot be replaced. The little girl used in an example places a face on the high number of causalities that children are becoming more seriously injured than adults, who choose to drive recklessly. The advert is successful in emphasizing the extreme harm that car accidents placed on young individuals. This advertisement is used by a non-profit organization in order to bring awareness to a pertinent issue. The advertisement uses a mixture of pathos, logos, and ethos in order to reach out to the audience that consists of anyone that gets behind the wheel of a vehicle. In also reaching those that drive, it also reaches the audience of those that know family members that drive recklessly or prone to distractions in the car which include; food, cell phone, or etc. This ad will generally affect mothers and parents that will want to protect their children from danger within and beyond their control.This ad is effective in drawing the attention of the viewer and creating a lasting impression.

Works Cited

“Creative Advertisements.”Desigg. 2010. Web. 10 February 2014. http://www.desigg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Creative-Advertisements-desiggCom-29.jpg

“Road Safety in France.”Fia Foundation. 2005. Web. 10 February. 2014. http://www.fiafoundation.org/publications/Documents/road_safety_in_france.pdf.