Meghan Winans

WRIT 1120 (073)

Dr. Michel
October 22th, 2015
Rhetorical Analysis
Advertisement Rhetorical Analysis
The purpose of an advertisement is to announce a product, service, or event to the public.
Popular ads usually promote a service or product, but some are effective by promoting awareness
about a certain issue. For example, some ads make people aware of animal abuse and neglect.
These ads can be effective and compelling, and others are simply useless and incapable of truly
displaying an important message to people. In particular, there is an advertisement that promotes
an end to animal cruelty. This ad has a very dark and gloomy feel to it. In the background of the
ad, there are dark mountains and a gray cloudy sky; It looks as if its almost about to storm.
Slightly in the distance, there are waves crashing against the mountains and rocks. Below the
mountains is dry and dying grass. On top of the grass appears to be a soccer goal that looks worn
out, old, and used. In the middle of the grass, a small black and white spotted Dalmatian dog is
curled up into a ball in front of the soccer goal. In the right lower corner of the ad is a dog collar
that reads, STOP THE ABUSE in large letters. In smaller letters beneath it reads, Report
cruelty in your neighborhood. Call 011-435-0672 or visit aacl.org. Then on the right side of the
collar, it shows the logo of the Animal Anti-Cruelty League. This advertisement is effective
because its design supports its purpose to show that animal abuse is harmful and prevalent in our
society.

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The purpose of this advertisement is to make people become aware of animal abuse. The
ad is simple, but effective and the information is implied, but not explicitly stated. The creator of
this advertisement seems to be hostile about animal cruelty and really wants his or her message
to be known. The problem that the creator seems to address is that some people arent as nice to
animals as they should be. According to an online article posted on August 31st, 2015, The
Humane Society of the United States from humanesociety.org, the most animal abuse cases that
were reported involved dogs and other animals. Out of all of the cases, 64.5% involved dogs,
18% were associated with cats, and 25% concerned other animals. This means that even though
dogs are the most common animal that gets abused and neglected, they arent the only animal
that gets harmed. In this ad, the Dalmatian dog is curled up in a ball to make it look like a soccer
ball that is going to be kicked into the goal. This could imply that some humans torture animals
by kicking them. I assume that the creator of this ad has knowledge about animal abuse and
knows that it is a common issue. He or she feels as if people should be aware of animal abuse
and neglect and that people should do something about it to help make it stop. Animal abuse is a
social problem because it affects society. People that harm animals are affected by this because if
they harm animals, what keeps them from harming humans too? In The Problem of Animal
Cruelty on popcenter.org, Kelly Dedel states in 2012 that a school did a survey of children in
the U.S., and 30% of those kids reported that they had committed some sort of animal abuse or
cruelty. This proves that animal abuse is happening, even if people dont really notice it. Today,
there are protection laws and regulations in some states that help pick out any people that are
guilty of animal cruelty and many more states are taking action to help raise awareness.
This advertisement demonstrates the pathos appeal to emotion. It appeals to emotion
because of the tone and color of the advertisement. It conveys a dark and depressing message

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and almost brings sadness to the viewing audience. The creator almost gives off a negative
attitude toward the subject because of the way the advertisement is presented. This attitude gives
off an old and worn-out feeling to the ad which helps the viewer look at the ad in a sorrowful and
possible guilty way. The organization of the objects in the advertisement really make the ad
fulfill its true potential of conducting an important message. The dog and the soccer goal are
brighter than the background image because it allows the viewer to focus on the foreground of
the ad, rather than the background. The creator made the Dalmatian dog look small to make the
viewer think of the animal as a small and helpless being. Yet, the creator did this on purpose to
make sure that the dog and the goal were first thing that viewers would notice. Hopefully the
viewer would understand that the creator is implying that animals cant always defend
themselves as much as they should. This helps the viewer understand what is going on in the ad
and what message the creator is trying to reveal.
The type, color, and size of font also makes a difference in deciding if the advertisement
is effective or not. The type of font that the creator uses is an average font that is very readable
and genuine. It helps the viewer read the advertisement quickly and adequately. In this ad, most
of the font is all capitalized which probably means that the message should be taken seriously.
The sentence, STOP THE ABUSE is short, but impactful. Even though its only three words, it
makes a powerful statement that the viewer will most likely remember. The shorter the sentence,
the better, because it emphasizes the message of the ad. Below the main message, says, Report
cruelty in your neighborhood. Call 011-435-0672 or visit aacl.org in smaller writing. The
creator of this ad did this because it isnt as relevant as the sentence above it. The creator wants
viewers to see it, but it isnt as important or significant as the other writing. To the right of the
message, is the organizations logo. It is a tan color and says the name of the organization and its

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personalized logo. The creator made this to be less apparent because he or she wants the viewer
to know who the message is coming from, but not distract him or her from reading the main
message of the ad. The color of the font is a tan color and it stands out on top of the brown collar.
This is good for the creator because, once again, it helps promote the creators message of
making people aware of animal abuse.
I think that the creator did an effective job on making people aware of animal abuse, but
he or she couldve made the ad better if his or her purpose was to make society put a stop to
animal abuse. This ad isnt necessarily promoting to stop animal abuse, but to make people think
about animal cruelty and understand that it is an issue. The creator of this advertisement could
have made the ad more relevant to helping break animal abuse by taking a different approach
when creating this ad. Yet, the ad is still very effective because it allows people to become aware
of animal abuse and neglect and that is the first step to stopping the abuse.
Overall, this advertisement is effective. It is effective because it delivers a message that
people should be conscious of the prevailing abuse of animals. The creator of this advertisement
knows how to convey a message to reach out to people that appeal to the emotion of animal
cruelty. He or she does a nice and efficient way of reaching out the viewers to make them
understand how serious this issue is in society today. The placement of the objects in the ad are
in good places that help enhance the purpose of the ad. The colors and tone of the font and
objects help show the true value of what the advertisement is conveying. This is an acceptable
advertisement because the design of it shows the universal issue of animal cruelty.

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Works Cited
"Animal Cruelty Facts and Statistics." RSS. 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Dedel, Kelly. "Center for Problem-Oriented Policing." Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.
2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Neje, Julija. "33 Powerful Animal Ad Campaigns That Tell the Uncomfortable Truth."
Boredpanda.com. N.p., 17 June 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.