Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Analysis Essay Rough Draft and Brain Storm


Blood Donation (ads v)



 

Blood Donation Ads Comparisons

Purposes of the ads: to get people to at least become aware of how helpful blood donations are, and to consider donation blood.

One of the ads (devianart) actually compared donating blood to something like immortality, because if you donate blood and the recipient outlives you, it’s as if your life force is still continuing.

The other, the spider man ad, talks about feeling good after you’ve given blood because you can possibly save a life, and the feeling that goes along with doing a good deed makes you more likely to donate blood.

 

7 Questions (Spiderman):

1.       Who published this ad? Hellenic Association of Blood Donors

2.       Who is this ad appealing to? People who have a big heart and want to help and doesn’t have AIDS (or any other blood disease).

3.       How can we tell that? Because the one piece of text says “You can be someone’s superhero!”

4.       What is the purpose? To inspire people to donate blood.

5.       How do they seem to be working towards that purpose? By making you feel a sense of charity when you donate blood and goodness surrounding the whole idea.

6.       What evidence from the ad can you provide to support these answers? ^ The ad shows Spiderman connected to a blood bag, inferring that Spiderman was donating blood. Then the text further pushes this idea by saying you could be someone’s super hero, so if you were to donate blood to the client that got your blood you would be Spiderman.

 7 Questions (Drop of Blood):

1.       Who published this ad? NZBLOOD

2.       Who is this text appealing to? Anyone who wants to live a long life, which is most people.

How can we tell that? Because the text says “Make your life go further.”

3.       What is the purpose? To inspire people to donate blood.

4.       How do they seem to be working towards that purpose? The picture part of the ad is a drop of blood as if it was diluting into water, which could be inferred that one drop of blood could spread and help a sick person more than it helps you. Of course blood is donated in pints, so the idea that your life would go further because a person received a pint of your blood is very valid. If a child needs a blood transfusion and you donate blood which goes to the child, if the child got healthy again an extension of you could outlive your body.

5.       What evidence from the text can you provide to support these answers? ^ “Make your life go further.”

 

6.       Can you come up with a statement that would indicate what the ads do as a group?  The ads together make happy argument for donating blood, inspiring you with the idea that after you donate blood you will feel better and have a happier existence.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Analyzing Ads Paper

              When I was told to find a few ads to analyze, I was inspired to write about blood donation when I saw an ad done by the Hellenic Association of Blood Donors. Spiderman’s hand was connected to a bag full of blood, and the text beside the picture said “You can be someone’s superhero!” When I saw it the ad made me smile, and made me consider donating blood myself. Seeing something in such a positive light convinced me almost instantly, and I saw there were plenty more blood donation ads out there. So I picked another one that looked interesting and decided to analyze them by breaking down their components and looking at the overall message of these two ads.

              Looking at the two ads side by side, I was surprised by how similar the ads looked to each other, and most other blood donation ads I’d seen as well. Since one of the first things people think of when they see a dark red color is blood, I noted how both ads worked with a red and white color scheme. As I looked across google that was one of the themes I looked for in ads. If it followed this color scheme, chances were it was an ad supporting blood donations or a blood drive. Moving to the pictures themselves… If you’ve dripped food coloring into water, think about the shape of the drop a few seconds after it entered the water, think of the shape. The dye hasn’t diffused completely into the water yet, but it’s spread out and looks very cool. That is what the blood drop looks like on the ad done by NZBLOOD that I found. The picture was eye catching, and complained to the plain white backdrop, the multi-shaded drop of blood drew lots of attention to anything red. The other red parts of the ad were text, such as the words “Make your life go further,” and “Become a donor.” (I know this technically isn’t a blood donation ad, but after you die your blood if is good they use it.) It was simple but effective, and before any amount of research I considered being an organ donor.

              In the introduction I did a bit of analysis on the Spiderman ad, but there is more to the ad than the text. The picture is one of the most clever I’ve ever seen. It’s a picture of Spiderman’s arm, and his hand looks like he is about to shoot a web, but he’s giving blood. The little to no use of sharp colors such as white or bright red added to the effect of it seeming like a softer, more comforting picture. It reminds me of when Russel Wilson goes to see young cancer patients in the hospital, or the commercials of famous people coming to your door. Someone important is helping someone in need to draw awareness, and this works if the famous person is real or not. This may be a bit of overthinking, but I interpreted this paired with the text mentioning you could be a superhero, as saying that you could be the important person helping the person in need. That not only are you helping someone, but it improves your status. While that shouldn’t be the reason you donate blood, it very well is a reason people do. People post pictures of themselves at concerts and at the gym, saying “look at me my life is so great!” Well, if you post a picture of you after you’ve donated blood or talk about it a lot, people are more likely to think you’re a good person. It was a very well put together ad, to say the least.

              Finally, there is the main point of why these ads were made: to bring awareness. These people want you to consider using your resources you have an abundance of for a good cause. And who does this apply to? Anyone who wants to feel good about themselves, and help make a change for the better. I can’t think of a person this doesn’t apply to. These ads are fighting for the people who need blood and organ transfusions and asking us as a population to take a stand and help in the fight.

              Overall, these ads are very well put together and cleverly use our wants and desires to make us more inclined to agree with their ads. Since the cause they are fighting for is a noble one at it’s very core and purpose, people are more willing to go with these ads and allow themselves to feel a sense of charity for even considering following their cause.

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