Actually, I found this picture on Google Image, this is the picture of drug abuse. I was deeply impressed by this picture because of the dark background, the eye contact of these two children and some words on the right. The strong comparison indicated the negative effects of drug abuse.
I response to this poster above about anti-drug abuse.
ReplyDeleteFirstly i can see two contrast from this picture, the left two child's bright and the right words black, the children's hopeless eye sight and the dad's selfish action behind them. personally i very like those contrasts, not only makes the authors main idea "anti-drug" clear, but also more likely to arouse reader's emotional feeling.
Secondly, the author chose to use children's view to tell this story is a good choice. Children are cherubic and easy to be hurt. we can even imagine those two child are victims for their dad's drug abuse. Everyone have childhood, no one want get this hurt from family, so it's a very motivative poster.
In addition, i can get more information from the right side words, and the fount of child's hand writing looks more reliable.
I am responding using blog prompt number 1. I agree with zi that this poster does a good job portraying the negative effects of drugs on children and on a family. The author did this is a few ways. First, the dark background in the poster sets the tone for a negative tone. With this negative tone, the viewer might feel a dull and sad side rather than a bright happy one that can be elicited by brighter colors. Secondly, the creator uses children in his image. This can be a good idea, or a bad idea. Some viewers may take this as a set up and fake ad, and some may let the emotional appeal affect them. Kids are vulnerable, and can definitely feel the effects of the drug, so personally I think it is ok to use them in this sense. They may feel scared, desperate, and even sad when their father is using the drugs, so to me, this is an accurate appeal and ad for using children. Lastly, kids can be used in ads, but the way they are used can be huge in the rhetoric of the advertisement. In this example, the children are seen huddling together with sad faces, the girl is holding a teddy bear, and the boy might be holding the girl. These affects with the children can be very important on the emotional side of the ad. In my opinion, the main audience of this ad is the older generation who might be using drugs and who have kids. It is trying to make them feel for what they are doing, and this portrayal of the kids is key. The fact that they are sad and close together lets the audience know that these are loving, innocent, and caring young people, and the affects of the ones who are supposed to be more mature and loving is deeply affecting their childhood. In all, the the rhetoric of the ad is definitely trying to portray a negative image, and the dark background and use of kids in the emotional sense is helpful to that portrayal. My question to other students is: does the use of kids in this ad make it less appealing overall? As i stated above, does it make the ad seem set up or fake? Rhetoric can have a fine line in persuasion, and kids are close to that line in my opinion, but as I stated above I do think they help this ad, just curious of more opinions?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jacob's questions, I think the kids do contribute to the overall appeal of this ad. As you stated above, the image of the two kids looking scared and frighten would have a powerful impact on the older generations, especially adults who have young children and might be doing drugs. Indeed when looking at this image, I did not much of an impression since to me it also looks a bit set up. The creator of this ad concentrated too much on the innocence looks of the two kids to probably get the sympathy from the audience. However the main message is not the kids being innocence, but they are scared, which is written in the message. Normally, when kids are scared, they would probably cry. I think this addition would make the ad more powerful, and also not looking directly the camera could also help make the ad appears to be more naturalistic and more realistic.
DeleteIn response to Jacob and Thinh, I think the use of the children in this picture adds an interesting aspect to the anti-drug poster. By showing the children in a neglected and vulnerable state, the author tries to show the damage that is being done to the family because of the father's drug use. Without the use of children, the author would have had trouble showing the negative impacts drugs can have on a family. The children are also shown with a "neutral" look on their faces. The children are not crying and do not seem to be scared, which one would consider a "normal" reaction of the child who saw their father use drugs. By choosing this emotion, the author is showing that the children are desensitized to the drug use. The desensitization can also draw the audience closer and gain the audience’s sympathy, while helping show how destructive drugs use can. This negative light shown on drug is what the author is trying to convey and this is used in an attempt deter the audience from using drugs.
DeleteI am responding using Blog Prompt 1. The creators of this advertisement were successful in showing the results of drug use by using several images and the words themselves. The words tell a specific message and target adults/parents in general. The font choice and wording suggests innocence and fear. The writing is written in this font, and perhaps the grammar mistake (dont), to truly show the young age of these children and the fact that they are much too innocent to be exposed to the drugs. The black and white effect of the entire advertisement is effective because it portrays the fear, loneliness, and sadness that has overcome these children. The children in the center of the advertisment tell the biggest story. The little girl's face and the fact that she is holding a stuffed animal shows her insecurities and fear. The message written directly on the ad focuses on the fact that these children do not get the love and attention from their father that they need. In response to this, the little boy is forced to act as a fatherly figure and to act as if he was a boy of much older age. The creators of this advertisement get this message across by showing the boy in a specific way. The boy is wrapping his arm around his sister, his hair is combed to the side in a presentable way, he is wearing a nice collared shirt that is tucked in, and he has a fancy watch around his wrist. All of these details about the boy are generally ones that describe a father or at least a full-grown man. The message the creators of this advertisement are trying to get across is that this boy is forced to take on the roll of his own father because his dad is no longer willing and capable to take care of his children. While the young boy stands in the picture looking very mature and responsible, his father is pictured doing drugs in the background which shows him as the immature and irresponsible one of the two.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Adam's comment: I had not thought of the boy as the father figure before but I can see how that works. The creator wanted to show that the drugs caused these children to grow up too fast. This also makes the viewer more sympathetic to the children because every child should have time to actually be a child, and these children were robbed of that. By this logic though, the words to the right should only be coming from the girl. The childishness of the writing could not have come from the boy who has already grown up. He is meant to look grown up, but the writing is meant to look extremely childish as though it really was said by the children. I do not think this works as well as if the children were sitting in a corner crying or something. They seem alright when looking at it as if the boy is grown up.
DeletePrompt 7: I think that this advertisement is generally effective. People tend to forget that children do know what is going on around them. This image does a good job of reminding people that children know more than we realize and that what we do affects them. One thing that is working in this image is that the font looks like the handwriting of a child. This allows the viewer to feel like the children are really feeling this. As Jacob said, the children are the main point in this picture, and that works in this case. While the setup of this ad does seem very posed and fake, it is clearly set up this way for a purpose. The creator wanted to be able to show that the children are hiding while also showing the father doing drugs in the background. The main point is that the children are supposed to look scared. As Adam mentioned, this is shown by the way the girl is holding a stuffed toy. This really brings out the fact that these are children and they are scared. The one thing that is not working in this ad is how dressed up the kids are. They are claiming that they are no longer loved, but they are dressed nicely and they are clean. The boy's hair looks like it was just combed and he is wearing a watch. This really takes away from the ad because it makes them look more like little adults. The creator may have done this to show that children understand more than we realize. By dressing them up as adults we are led to believe that they are aware of more. This completely goes against the part where the little girl is hugging a stuffed toy though. Despite this slight conflict, I think the ad is able to get its point across and let the audience know that drugs affect the whole family.
ReplyDeleteI am responding to prompt 6. It seems as though the creator of this image is introducing the idea that drugs not only affect the user, but the ones closest to the actual user. In this instance children are used to show their feelings toward their father's drug use. Other than the two sentences describing what the children are thinking no other visible citation is given. Therefore the audience must make the assumption that the creator is reliable in their ideas of what children must be thinking. Bringing up the topic of children being affected by drug use shows that drug users often forget who they can affect and non-users are affected by drugs. The creator uses previous assumptions that children are innocent to adult drug use and that they are naive to drug use consequences. This innocence and naivety are portrayed through the entire image. The children's faces seem scared and worried, not common expressions/emotions that young children should be facing. As Taylor previously mentioned it seems as though the font used is of a child's handwriting which persuades the audience to believe that the children pictured had written those words themselves. The most powerful part of the image seems to be an older adult in the background to the left using drugs, this in combination with the children afraid for their father makes the message much more realistic.
ReplyDeleteI think that Casey brings up a good point on how the ad seems to focus more on the children rather than the dad or the actual drug use. Children tend to strike a soft spot in the emotions of people, so by focusing on the children, the author evokes more emotion out of the people viewing the ad. By evoking more emotion, the ad is more effective and discourages people from using drugs so that they don't end up hurting the people around them also.
DeleteI'm responding this using prompt 7. The poster uses 2 kids and a sentence which seems to be written by a young kid to point out the negative effects of drug abuse. The black background make viewers feel depressed and sympathetic for those kids. I can see the fear and hopeless in their eyes. The poster tries to evoke the conscience of the drug users because the relationship between dads and children are usually strong and maybe can give drug users a motivation to quit drugs. However, I do think that this poster might only effective for those who have kids, it might not helpful for those young drug users.
ReplyDeleteI partially agree with Zicong's idea. The poster is not as effective as it is to people with children, compared with people who don't have. It's because they may don't have same practical feelings. But on the other hand, we also don't have children, but we are all touched by the poster, by the way the author portrays it. Therefore, it could also work for young adults or people who don't have children.
DeleteI agree with Casey's and Taylor's response. The creators of this advertisement clearly decided to use the shock value involved with children to show the vast effect that drug abuse can have on the person themselves and the ones closest to them. The children make direct eye contact with the camera, with their father in the back-room appearing to get high, and the words that describe the children's attitude towards their father's addiction. The children appear innocent as can be, with the daughter grasping a teddy bear close while the son has fear in his eyes as he tries to somewhat comfort his sister. I agree with Taylor, in that the children were dressed to depict their role as caretakers for themselves and each other. It is clear that the overall message the creators of this advertisement were attempting to convey is that drug abuse will not only affect the user, but additionally his family and friends. I feel that this advertisement was mildly successful in its quest; however, I feel that it could've have been more effective with some simple additions of improved camera angle/lighting to give a more realistic appeal but i feel that it was still superbly well done. The most powerful piece of the image is the look on the children with purity and innocence in their eyes, as they are affected by such a destructive, monstrous force.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the first prompt:
ReplyDeleteThis image makes several choices in its "interface" to make the viewer feel a certain way. Its use of a black-and-white image makes the scenario seem bleak. The choice of handwriting as opposed to a typed font causes the viewer to sympathize with the children - perhaps, without this element, the children would not be "real," but rather be obvious figments of the designer's imagination. The choice of simple words and short sentences make the sentence seem as if it were actually written by one of the children in the picture, and the handwriting enhances that feeling.
I agree with you that the creator of the image did a good job enhancing the feeling of sympathy. The lack of color takes away the "warmth" of the image and makes it feel like it is a serious situation. Showing the father in the background of the two children also makes the scene feel "real" as you said. Without the father, the image would just be two sad children in a hypothetical situation, but with hi the handwriting font for the text it really grounds image in reality.
DeleteI am responding using blog prompt 6. In this image, the author beings up the claim that drug abuse not only affects the abuser, but also family members, specifically children. This image I believe is particularly controversial because you can see the father doing drugs in the other room while the children look helplessly at the camera. The use of just black and white, helps the image to look more intense, and perhaps even more persuasive. The use of color could have possibly taken away from the message and the severity of the situation at hand. Before even looking at the images, the saying to the left leads to the controversial tone of the picture. The author did a great job setting up the entire message, and the choices he made makes the ad very effective.
ReplyDeleteI'm responding this poster by using prompt 6. I want to talk about how the author portrays the two children. The boy is a little older than the girl, but he seems much more mature. He looks like an adult to protect his little sister. I think that's because they lack the caring and love from their dad since he takes drugs. Thus, he acts as dad to take the responsibility of loving and caring about the little sister. We can see more direct influence of their dad taking drugs on the girl. She is so innocent. We can tell she is scared and sad from her eyes. She is holding a doll, and leaning on her brother. She needs love and care, which her dad doesn't give since he takes drugs. All of the rhetoric can help to show the adverse effects of taking drugs and especially bad for the families.
ReplyDeletePrompt 1: Like Jacob has said, the white and black coloring of the anti-drug ad definitely helps set a negative or sad tone. The coloring also helps show contrast between the children, who have a white background, and the father's actions (image of father and the message itself). It is possible that the white background behind the children represents their innocence and purity (perhaps purity from drugs?). The black background might represent the bad changes of the father's personality that were caused by drugs: his lack of taking care of the children, etc. The message in the ad, "We get scared when dad takes drugs. I don't think he loves us any more.", looks as if it was written by the children, who huddle next to each other in fear. The message and the image of the scared children would greatly affect someone who has a family of their own, most likely someone older. Even though someone like myself doesn't have children, the ad is still effective in getting the point across that drug abuse can hurt and greatly affect people that we love and care about.
ReplyDeletePrompt 7
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest aspects of this ad is the use of black and white color rather than normal color. This creates a dark and gloomy mood that indicates that there is no hope regarding the situation. The shadows underneath the boy's eyes and dark hair help to make the look on his face one of despair. The author of the ad chose to use dark color in order to get the point across that the kids feel as if there is no hope with their dad using drugs.
Prompt 7: I think this ad uses young children to show when people use drugs, it not only effects them but also their loved ones. I feel the dark colors and the two kids hiding while their father is doing drugs in the background can kind of relate to people who have been in this situation before or who are currently in this situation. I feel that this ad would be more effective to someone who comes from a broken family rather than an individual from healthy loving family, as it could bring back memories from their past and remind them how they would not want to go back to that or put someone they love through the same thing this father is doing to his children.
ReplyDeleteI'm responding this poster use prompt 1. This ad use a good way to express it main idea by children's hand writing. Also, the hand writing of child can have a stronger visual shock than the words that simply printed by computer. The words written by child and the two kids' helpless eye will stimulates readers' sympathy so readers can easily be touched by this ad. The doll holds by the little girl and the white background shows that both of them are still kids, and very pure. The contrast between the two kids and their father can give the readers a good reason to be convinced by this ad.
ReplyDeletePrompt 1: After analyzing the picture for a bit it is very easy to see what makes it an effective ad. The black & white coloring creates contrast between the black background and the white kids. The kids maintain eye contact with the photographer while a man (I assume this is their dad) is in the act of doing drugs in the background. The eye contact allows the observer to connect with the kids and feel sympathy for them. The black & white contrast forces the observer to look at the words and the children first, then see the dad last. This makes the ad all the better. After reading the words, I looked straight to the children's eyes and immediately felt sympathy for them. Then I noticed the dad doing drugs in the background and that only made me more upset at the children's situation. Through the contrast between the colors and the positioning of the people in the ad, it does a great job of evoking a strong emotional response from the observer.
ReplyDelete