The Importance Of Public Service Advertisements

Every day, companies present the people with advertisements everywhere they go. Advertisements have become very prevalent in today’s society nowadays focusing in on a negative connotation. Advertisement has become an effective way for producers to display their new products. In present day, they come in forms of billboards, flyers, e-mails, and even text messages. It is widely known that companies create advertisements to persuade people to buy specific products or goods; however, it is not widely known that advertisements can make a negative impact on today’s society. The companies manipulate people’s mind and emotions, swaying people by new promotions and therefore generating a strong desire to fit into the society, that causes them to make inessential expenditures. Advertisements pose a critical impact on the American culture.

A Public Service Announcement (PSA) can help reduce the number of distracted driving accidents by explaining the horrible effects of distracted driving and the best ways to prevent distracted driving. Currently, the main source of distracted driving is cell phones. Cell phones cause a person to text, call, and use social media while driving; all factors that can be a deadly distraction while driving. A cell phone causes much distraction for the driver and may cause the driver to have a car crash that not only affects themselves, but also the surrounding people. As a community, we should be educating people about distracted driving in order to prevent the problem and decrease the number of accidents. Public Service Announcements are important as they provide people with evidence, resources to limit distraction while driving, and helpful/important information. Teenagers, children, and even adults will be able to be informed. Even though educating people through a Public Service Announcement is important, it might not be viewed by most people and will not be effective towards the younger viewers. Teenagers and even adults might dismiss a Public Service Announcement because the announcement does not grab their attention or because the person might not care.

The Ecovia ad ‘Stop the Violence’ from December 2012 shows an image of a woman with a car painted on her cheek; the background is black and gray. To the right of the woman appears to be a man's forearm with a blue car painted on the male’s fist. The image shows the man hitting the woman’s chin. As the male fist is hitting the woman, the image of the red car on the woman’s face and the image of the blue car on the male’s fist illustrates a head-on collision of the two painted vehicles. The woman’s hair is blown back from what appears to be the force of the punch from the male's’ fist. Below this picture is the words, “Stop the Violence, Drive Safe”, and an Ecovia logo in the lower right-hand corner of the ad.This advertisement uses logos, ethos, and pathos to inform viewers of the importance of driving safely and possibly make them aware of the issue.

The advertisement’s stylistic choice is effective due to how they tell a story and use supportive rhetorical techniques. First, Volkswagen does this by pulling people in with the rhetorical technique of pathos. By creating a scenario within the advertisement which consumers can relate to, the viewer tends to feel a sense of familiarity and emotional attachment. The scene in the commercial that acts as the strong emotional trigger is the final scene where the young boy uses the force on the car. Whether it’s a parent watching the commercial or someone thinking back to their own childhood, there’s a way they can relate to it. For parent’s watching the commercial, they might imagine a

In the rhetorical analysis that is observed in the PSA, pathos is the most exploited in the majority of these ads. As it graphically exalts the emotions with situations in which the spectator can clearly relate. This announcement in particular considers a dialog between a mother and a student seconds before an accident is caused by texting and driving. The mother questions if the student is aware that it is not in her lane, if she is texting, and requests emphatically that she pay attention to the road because her children are in the car with her. The student responds by justifying her actions but is mortified when she acknowledges what is about to happen. She does not have

The United States require every driver to have car insurance in order to drive legally in the United States. The problem, however, is choosing the right one. Two of the major companies today are Allstate and State Farm. In the Allstate commercial, a man portrays “Mayhem” to show drivers the risks they experience while driving on the road. The man says he is modeling a blind spot, explaining that drivers may not see what hides in them, resulting in an accident. In the State Farm commercial, two situations are on display, one of which a teenage girl getting her first car, and the other a grown man getting his car broken into, demonstrating that State Farm is there for everyone. To endorse their product effectively, both of these brands apply pathos, ethos, and logos to their commercials.

First the PSA illustrates pathos more than ethos or logos, because before the cars collided time froze and both drivers get out and discuss what is about to happen. During this conversation, the older woman asks the teenage girl did she know that she is in her lane and if she is texting. The teenage girl responds “I was just checking in with my mom. I was telling her, I thought I would be home by six”. The older woman then states “It’s okay there’s enough time, just pay attention.” The girl quotes “I’m not even halfway through the text, there is no way! I’m not going to look up”. The older woman cries “my babies are in the

A very effective piece of propaganda in that it captures the reader’s attention successfully by placing a picture of a child in the focal point of the advertisement. The child plays a vital role in this piece of propaganda in that it represents a loved one, family member and anything cherished. It shows what could be left behind, if a driver chooses to ignore safe driving. Choosing a sorrowful child’s face, further enhanced the emotions of the reader, as the advertisement would not have the same effect if an adult was shown instead. The advertisement also suggests that the driver has been negligent in his/her duty of care toward their family. This also instigates a number of feelings in the viewers mind about their family, and the result to their loved ones.

Advertisers use a variety of appeals to convince the viewer’s to buy certain products or bring a topic to the awareness of the viewer. The anti-child abuse announcement that San Francisco Human Services Agency released is no different. A public service announcement is designed to publicize a problem the nation is facing. Advertisements can appeal to the audience through a variety of elements such as images and speech. In this advertisement pathos and ethos are represented through the sounds and visual content while logos is presented through the statistics given at the end of the advertisement. With this advertisement it is also important to consider the

In an attempt to bring awareness about distracted driving to viewers, AT&T has decided to show a different perspective about the issue. Drivers who chose to display reckless behavior while driving are often viewed as careless, and irresponsible. However, many times even a responsible, caring person can make a bad decision and become distracted. This moment of bad judgment can lead to a tragic accident that will affect all those involved. The commercial The Unseen by AT&T used in their It Can Wait campaign is effective in getting their message across. Through the use of scare tactics and people’s emotions AT&T’s commercial; The Unseen is effective because it gets drivers to think twice before becoming distracted behind the wheel.

Shot to aim directly at people who tend to disregard warnings and are most like to be distracted drivers, texting and driving PSA’s bring awareness and self consciousness to the general public as they display from moderate to severe graphic scenes on what happens when you take your eyes off of the wheel. A distracted driving PSA ad is not only one of the best ways to alert people of the consequences of unfocused driving, but it can also reduce the number of distracted driving incidents, thus keeping families not only careful and alert, but alive and safe.

AT&T gains their audiences attention by appealing to the use of logic and emotions throughout the commercial. The commercial is meant to demonstrate the dangers of distracted driving and the possible results. The results are supported by rhetorical devices and strategies. The author communicates the dangers of distracted driving through their use of ethos, logos, and pathos.

The third way the advertisement tries to evoke a sense of “parental guilt” into a parent is by utilizing negative space. All the content in the advertisement is surrounded by dark space, the background is all black. The negative space creates a sense of fear in a parent that if you smoke your child will fade away into the blackness. The negative space also evokes a sense of danger in a parent, like something is going to grab their child and pull them away from them if they keep smoking.

The creators of this commercial grasp the hearts and minds of their audience by first bringing out a situation and people who can relate to the common driver, then second exposing them to the extreme consequences of texting and driving, while also setting the mood with appropriate music. By appealing to the emotions of the audience so strategically, the producers carry out an attempt to impact the actions of any drivers who may view their video and change how they view distracted driving in their personal

Advertising has become an integral part of our society. In the world of advertising, many tactics and strategies are used to lure consumers into purchasing a product or delivering a message. Producers try various ways to attract people’s attention, and persuasive advertising is one of the many methods they use to promote ideas that can earn them consumers’ trust and loyalty as well as to advertise for their products. In persuasive advertising, advertisers try to apply the appropriate use of persuasive tools to appeal to the consumer and get their message through. The BMW advertisement of texting and driving uses pathos, or the emotion of regret, and the use of this emotion is being applied effectively because regret is associated with all car accidents especially those due to texting and driving.