Moms Demand Action is one of the organizations in the United States, which is aimed at improving public safety measures. Its campaigns are frequently conducted with the use of images, such as the advertisement portraying children with different objects (Wilkins). This picture draws attention not to material products but to an idea, which is the inappropriateness of the current regulations for children. In this case, the main hook is the viewers’ curiosity, who are supposed to reflect on the message. In order to promote their opinion, the authors use various appeals, including fear and practicality combined with safety, esteem, and psychological needs. Therefore, the advertisement under consideration is an efficient message of the campaign, which corresponds to all of the principles of their creation.
Backstory
The perspective of the members of Moms Demand Action on the safety of citizens and, more specifically, children is based on their concerns related to gun violence. In particular, they are worried about families and their struggles deriving from the above circumstance when they have access to weapons (“Our Story”). Their work and, consequently, created advertisements are intended for distribution during the community work and cooperation with business leaders (“Our Story”). In this way, their primary efforts are put into the development of preventive measures, which is possible once citizens’ awareness is increased and the transmitted message is correctly understood by the population.
The Main Hook
One of the pieces of Moms Demand Action, which is analyzed in this paper, depicts two children sitting on the floor, and each of them holds different objects. Thus, one of the girls has a book of “Little Red Riding Hood,” and another one owns a gun (Wilkins). The main hook in this picture is the phrase, “One child is holding something that’s been banned in America to protect them. Guess which one” (Wilkins). It encourages people to solve the presented riddle in which the correct answer is the fairytale because its main character has a bottle of wine in her basket (Wilkins). However, it is not clear at first sight since the viewers initially pay attention to the rifle and, consequently, the book, whereas the presence of this bottle is not quite apparent.
Appeals
The advertisement contains two of the most popular appeals, which are usually used for this purpose. They are fear and practicality, and this combination implies the focus of its creators on the need for change and encouragement of people’s actions. The former is tends to motivate them to avoid an adverse outcome of neglected issues, which is lethal in the case of gun control (Wimbush, 2019). In turn, the latter means reflects on the benefits, which citizens will obtain if they vote for the new law or, in other words, healthy home environments (Wimbush, 2019). These appeals are complemented by safety and esteem or, to put it another way, basic and psychological needs as per Maslow’s hierarchy (“Marketing Theories – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). Specifically, they include health promotion, security, respect, and confidence targeted by the policymakers.
Visual Elements
The key visual elements included in the picture are colors, creative use of space, line styles, and shapes. The selection of dark tones reflects the severe situation related to gun control. In addition, space is organized in such a way that the viewer immediately recognizes the central place of children in the message and the contrast between the corresponding political decisions (Chron Contributor). In turn, the lines are mostly horizontal, but the rifle looks like the girl is lifting it, which refers to the gradual worsening of the situation, and angular shapes of objects add to this impression (Chron Contributor). As for the background, it is darker than the center, but the American flag is still visible, which implies the intention of attributing the problem to this country in the first place.
Target Audience and the Ultimate Message
The above details allow concluding on the ultimate message and the target audience as well as the success of this advertisement in increasing the awareness of citizens. Thus, the key idea, which is transmitted to the viewers, is the dependency of the psychological health of the population on the suggested laws, which should limit the access of minors to weapons (“Out Story”). From this point of view, it is intended for families with children who can potentially resort to the above means of conflict resolution. The analysis of its components shows their well-thought selection and arrangement, which contribute to the successful reception of the message by the audience. In this way, the meaning of the campaign and, more specifically, this picture efficiently underpins the organization’s efforts.
Conclusion
To summarize, gun control, as one of the most critical issues in the United States, is the topic of the advertisement. The message, which is the need for new laws, is efficiently transmitted with the help of several techniques. First, the riddle on the image encourages people to reflect on the problem. Second, the selected appeals correspond to the target audience and the organization’s ideas. Third, the visual elements included in the image effectively underpin the message. Thus, the overall initiative implied by creating the advertisement is successful in terms of achieving its objectives.
Works Cited
Chron Contributor. “7 Visual Elements of Art Used in Advertisement.” Chron, 2021.
“Marketing Theories – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Professional Academy, n.d.
“Our Story.” Moms Demand Action, n.d.
Wilkins, Abigail. “Social Marketing Example #2: Moms Demand Action, Gun Control PSA.” Brogan Partners, 2019.
Wimbush, Patrice D. “Top Five Appeals That Advertisers Use to Sell a Product.” Chron, 2019.
