Print Advertisement Analysis: Moms Demand Action

Guess Which One is one of many print advertisements in an advertising campaign made by an American organization called “Moms Demand Action”. The purpose of the ad is to persuade people with opposing viewpoints to join the fight for implementing safer gun laws in America. Despite being about a controversial topic, this campaign has been highly successful in persuading local legislators to change to safer gun policies. More effective than other texts in this genre, the advertisement is able to successfully meet it’s purpose through the use of powerful visual images and layout. Through conforming to the conventions of a print advertisement, “Mom’s Demand Action” is able to use powerful emotions to shock an adult audience with opposing points of
This print advertisement follows typical conventions through the use of a headline positioned at the top, visual images as the central focus, text below the image as an explanation of the message, and the appropriate balance between text and images (Eemeren, 268). To begin with, after being hooked through the use of compelling visuals, the attention of the audience is brought to the headline at the top of the advertisement, which is larger in size. This text ends off with the words “Guess which one” that again leaves the audience clueless and curious about the argument of the ad. Up until this point, opposing ideas are unable to influence the thoughts of the audience as the argument has not been declared. The attention of the audience is then brought to the smaller text at the bottom of the ad which clearly states the argument. The lack of audience bias developed through the layout causes this argument to seem shocking. As a result, the sudden realization of the message further intensifies the established emotions of shock created through visual images. Moreover, the audience is then forced to think more with their emotions and less with their minds as emotions are at a peak when the argument is introduced. This is because advertisements that are emotionally charged are able to create powerful memories which ultimately decrease the impact of ones logic when thinking (Frenay, Emolytics ). This results in a negative effect on recall even for an audience with opposing viewpoints. Due to such an effect, even an audience with opposing viewpoints are forced to think with a heavy influence of emotions which makes it likely that the argument is accepted by such an audience. Lastly, the most effective use of layout was perhaps the balance of text with images. This advertisement centers the headline,