RTF 305- Ninth Blog Post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc

We've all seen the commercial. Images of animals with various injuries appear on the television screen while Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" plays in the background. Your heart breaks a little more each time a picture fades and another appears. Although this may not be an advertisement for a product, it is still an advertisement for the End Animal Cruelty Campaign which raises funds for animals that suffer from animal cruelty. But what is it about the advertisement that causes you to give in and dial the number displayed on the screen?

This advertisement relies heavily on the use of emotional, image, and ideological appeals. Usually, these appeals are used to depict a product or image that you really want for yourself. They usually strike a chord in a person and make you want what you see on the screen. However, emotional, image, and ideological appeals are used very differently in this commercial. They show you what you don't want to see or don't want to happen, and tell you that if you donate money to the foundation, you will help these animals from the situations in which they are depicted. Although the appeals may not be used in the traditional positive sense, there are still considered emotional appeals because the advertisement really makes you feel sympathy for the animals shown, and convinces you to donate to the foundation

I believe that this is a very powerful advertisement, and I am certain that many people have donated to the cause just because of the emotional, image, and ideological appeals that it presents.