ASPCA Advertisement

ASPCA Advertisement The creators of advertisements often have the same goals in mind as a persuasive writer. Both of these people want their audience to believe something to be true or persuade them to do something. Ethos is used to establish credibility, Logos to provide reason, and Pathos to build an emotional connection. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) created an advertisement with the intention of persuading viewers to donate to the organization by using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.
First of All, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a privately funded non-for-profit organization. The ASPCA’s mission is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to
animals throughout the United States (Henry Bergh, ASPCA.com).” They are legal advocates for animals and are even partnered with New York Police Department to assist in rescuing animals. The NYPD and the ASPCA make a great team according to their website, “Given the NYPD’s tens of thousands of officers across 77 precincts, this alliance paved the way for accelerated and widened police response to animal abuse complaints while expanding the ASPCA’s ability to rescue and treat abused animals (ASPCA.com)” This project has helped them get the word out about their cause and has shown America how much impact their organization can really have.
This organization uses advertisements to ask for donations to fun the programs in place to help the most innocent victims.
To illustrate, in the ASPCA advertisement they begin at the very top of this advertisement in white print is a fact that states “EVERY 60 SECONDS an animal is abused.” The words “EVERY 60 SECONDS” is in bold print and all capital letters. It is surrounded by a yellowish-orange coloring and that is cut off it turns into dirt. To the left sitting in the dirt is a very sad looking pit-bull puppy. He is tan and white wearing a green over-sized collar held down by a silver chain. Attaching the collar to the chain are two large circular weights. The pup appears to be filthy. To the right of the puppy is white lettering “Don’t let criminals harm more innocent victims” and beneath that is “60 cents a day can save lives.” The words “60 cents a day” is in bold print. The puppy’s shadow surrounds this print. At the very bottom to the left is the ASPCA logo and to the right, surrounded by the same yellowish orange is “Make a Monthly Gift” in white bold print. There is surely a reason for every single part of this
advertisement. To begin analyzing, persuasive writers will often times use the technique ethos to establish credibility by the way they present the topic, through evidence used and repetition. The ASPCA clearly does the same with this advertisement. The fact “Every 60 seconds and animal is abused” is place at the very top of the advertisement to catch viewers’ attention. This fact being at the top may bring viewers to assume right away, that this isn’t all mumbo-jumbo. The number 60 is repeated again, “60 cents a day can save lives.” The repetition may make the ad stick in the viewer’s mind as well as the statistic and how much they are asking for donation. The ASPCA logo in the bottom left corner of the advertisement adds a lot of credibility, the organization is very well know across the country as they have teamed up with police departments and support shelters everywhere. They have had a lot of publicity.
Next, the technique logos is used to make the offer seem reasonable to the audience.
The advertisement chooses their words very carefully, they state “For 60 cents a day you can save lives.” First they put it in cents because most anybody disregards change in there day to day lives, it gets throw to the side or they tell the gas station attendant to “keep the change.” Sixty cents doesn’t seem like very much in comparison to a donation of two-hundred and sixteen dollars which is exactly how much it adds up to over a year. However the ASPCA wouldn’t just come right out and ask for that large of a donation because most American’s would cringe at that number, yet sixty cents a day seems perfectly reasonable especially if it is “to save lives.” This is putting these lives in the viewer’s hands and just sixty cents a day can make them feel like they are making a difference. Also, at the very bottom in the right hand corner, they ask you to “make a monthly gift.” The word “gift” is meant to turn this donation to the organization to a gift to the sad puppy on the ad. Giving a gift to an abused or neglected animal may seem a lot more reasonable than donating to a huge organization with enough money already being able to produce advertisements everywhere asking for more
money.
Lastly, the most apparent technique used in this ASPCA advertisement is pathos. Pathos is used to build an emotional connection with the viewer. With this in mind, the puppy alone with the big sad heart wrenching eyes seeps into the viewer’s soul and makes him feel obligated to help. They may have choose use a puppy instead of a full grown dog to tug on the viewer’s heart strings as well. Most people go goo-goo over puppies and this is one of the innocent little babies being abused. The puppy is sitting his dirt with no shelter or water present. The shadow and brightness of the photo gives the assumption that it is a sunny day outside. The collar seems to not fit correctly and the weighted chain is holding him down. Over all the condition they portrayed this dog to be in is enough to make animal activists sick. The ASPCA is using the sympathy card here to ask for donations, not that they shouldn’t be; this really happens every day. They ask that you “Don’t let criminals harm more innocent victims.” First, the word criminals is used to maybe not offend any of the viewers. Making the assumption that only criminals could commit such a heinous act provides them a wider audience. Also the whole quote kind of puts blame on the reader that they are the ones letting this happen by not donating to their cause.
The ASPCA uses the writing techniques ethos, logos, and pathos to influence their viewers to donate to their cause. These techniques help build credibility, form reason and an emotional connection with the audience and work especially well with this advertisement. Although they are most used by writers they help analyze the goal of the ASPCA in their ad requesting donations for their cause.