Blog Assignment 8 (Sathiz)

1. What is the message conveyed by the ad?

The one and a half minute video ad conveys a message to end gun violence, a part of a campaign by Mayors in United States. This particular video ad begins with a number of celebrities listing mass shootings from Columbine to Virginia Tech. The main objective of the ad is to push for more effective gun control legislation in the wake of the December 14^th shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown which took the lives of 20 innocent children and six adults. This ad encourages the public to support the Demand a Plan campaign whose goals are to make sure that every gun buyer faces a background check and push for stricter penalties against people who purchase guns on behalf of others.   

2. What persuasive technique is being employed?

There were several persuasive techniques being used in the video ad including Celebrity Spokesperson, Emotional Appeals and Repetition. Among the entertainers making appearances in the ad are Beyoncé, Jessica Alba, Rashida Jones, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Aniston and many more. The appearances of many artists attracts the attention of the target audiences the campaign more visible and easily persuaded. As for emotional appeal technique, the ad induced fear of losing someone they loves to the audiences. This ad, thus make a viewer to have a strong feeling about the Demand a Plan campaign. In the ad, several words such as ‘how many more’, ‘enough’ and ‘demand a plan’ are being repeated several times. The repetition technique is used in this ad to overcome the audiences’ reluctance in believing the importance of the campaign. 

3. Who is the target audience?

The audiences the ad aim to reach out are the adults as well as elderly people in America. The stars in the ad plead the Americans to support the Demand a Plan campaign which disapproves the legal gun violence. People who obtain the guns could be a bigger threat to the country and it is proven by the massacre in Sandy Hook Elementary School proves. The ad indirectly requires the of age citizens of America to be aware of illegal gun purchases and usages. As it turns out,  the usage of the words such as “as a mom, as a dad, as a friend, as a wife, as a husband, as an America” in the ad clearly shows the target audience the ad was trying to reach out.

4. Is this an effective ad? Why or why not?

In my opinion, the ad is very effective. The appearances of many artists in this ad make the citizens to become aware of the campaign, Demand a Plan. There are chances where the target audiences are easily convinced the presence of many entertainers in one single ad.  It encourages many people out there to support their motive which is to end gun violence to prevent to loss of many innocent lives. The emotional appeal technique which is used it this ad proved to be very effective. It causes the public to have a strong sense of disapproval against gun violence. 

5. What would you change to make the ad better? Why?

The ad is lack of background music. Therefore I would suggest adding suitable background music to the ad as it would attract the audiences’ attention. Besides I would also suggest adding more pictures related to the shooting incident in Sandy Hook Elementary School. This would indirectly initiates the Americans to protect the innocent lives from becoming victims of illegal gun shooting activities. Before ending the video ad, I would add a few urls and website addresses which would link them to the pages containing information about the campaign activities. This enables them to learn more information and facts about the campaign.

(Video ad url : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64G5FfG2Xpg)