Persuasion: Second Hand Smoke

I found an ad about the effects of smoking. It shows two bodies lying on what appears to be a table. You see only the feet of an adult and a child. There is a tag that reads "smoker" attached to the adult's toe and a tag that reads "passive smoker" attached to the child's toe. You also see a white paper blanket covering them from the ankles up.

The goal of this ad is to persuade smokers to quit. The child apparently symbolizes the effects of second-hand smoke, but the age of the child is not determined.

The purpose is to delve into the emotions of the viewer. If a smoker were to view this image, he would probably stop to think about the impact his smoking is having on not only his own health, but also the health of his family. The emotions might be enough to persuade him to quit smoking.

The book tells us, on page 171, that images persuade us in three ways. First, Images represent reality. I think this is true in this ad because it is saying that the reality of smoking is death. Second, images serve as proof for a persuader's message. I'm not sure who sponsors this ad, but I'm sure the goal of the persuader is to get us to understand that smoking kills. This image works as a definite proof. Third, images suggest arguments to audiences. This ad is suggesting something that smokers don't want to hear. Most smokers try to deny the negative effects that cigarette smoking can have on their bodies. But when looking at this ad, it is difficult to deny that smoking can kill.

I noticed a few techniques that we talked about in class, when referring to images. The view of the camera angle is a significant part of this ad, I think. This was mentioned on page 165 under the heading photography. When looking at the image, you are seeing the bottoms of the feet. So it is as if you were kneeling down at the end of the table looking forward. I feel that this is important, because it gives a sense of anonymity. By not being able to recognize the person being depicted, it could possibly represent someone the viewer knows. This would cause deeper emotions.

Another technique used is spatiality. According to what we read, on page 163, spatiality is the use of space in a given image. This ad has a lot of black space, which draws the viewer's attention straight to the image of the feet. I think this is important because it attracts attention, right away, to the meaning of the ad.

There are no words, except for the toe tags. I don't think words need to be written. The meaning is apparent in the image, which is that smoking kills. It not only kills the smoker, but also those that have to breath in the smoke second-handedly.

One other technique used is lighting, which is talked about on page 162. The lighting used in this ad is shadowing and darkness. This gives a sense of emotion and suspense. When I looked at the image, I automatically thought of the morgue, although the morgue wasn't actually shown. Darkness also gives off the sense of quietness. I think this is a powerful tool because it makes you think of death, which of course, is the point.

I can't really say if this ad is successful because I don't smoke. But I can say that it is a powerful message. In my opinion, seeing this ad would give me second thoughts about smoking another cigarette. It would cause me to stop and think about how my smoking could possibly kill my child or another loved one. But if it is difficult to quit smoking, then this ad may not be enough to cause someone to quit.

This assignment was very powerful. This ad should be put on every cigarette pack. I have always been against smoking, but now I hope to help others understand how important it is to quit. It also upsets me to think about parents who smoke. A parent's goal should be to keep their child safe, not to expose them to the dangers of cigarette smoke.

I am glad that laws are changing regarding smoking in public places. We all have a right to breathe fresh air.

References

anonymity. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 15, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anonymity

Borchers, TimothyPersuasion in the Media Age
Second Edition

Lighting. (n.d.). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from Reference.com website: http://www.reference.com/browse/columbia/lighting

spatiality. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 15, 2008, from Dictionary.com website:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spatiality