NSPCC Advert Analysis

NSPCC Advert Analysis

The first advert for the NSPCC, presents a big close up of a young girl. This advertising campaign is targeting the issues of young people being abused and trying to persuade them to come forward and talk about their issues.

The expression presented on the girls face is extremely intense and absent of any true emotion, this represents the way many people who are being abused feel. Trapped inside their own mind without any help in sight, the abused feel as though they must shut down to survive. The close up allows for the entirety of the focus to fall upon the girl and the expression, the use of a wider angle shot would be a distraction and pull away from the trapped feeling the poster is trying to put forward. The fact that she is a young girl reinforces the ideology that girls are more vulnerable and at risk than boys. Alternatively, a negotiated reading, while understanding the reasoning behind the choice of a female model, may be under the opinion that not having a boy as the face is disregarding the fact that possibly an equal amount of boys and girls are currently being abused. If young boys, who are receiving abuse, see this poster they may feel like it is weak of a boys to tell as men are commonly stereotyped as strong beings who handle their own issues. 

By using a mute logo over the girls mouth, as a symbol of her inability to speak out about her abuse could have multiple connotations. People may see this as a symbol of someone else ‘muting’ her ability to tell the truth and ask for help, as this is something people commonly do to the TV purposefully. Many abusers are consistently threatening the people they abuse not to tell anyone, this is extremely common with younger people as they have very little ability to stand up for themselves. Oppositely, some people may see the mute symbol as a sign of her muting herself. It can be seen that a child’s shame and/or fear would cause them to not speak out about the abuse, and as a primary target audience for this poster is people of a young age, this option stands out more prominently to me, as it may reflect the way people viewing the advert feel about themselves.

The use of light and shadow used in this advertisement is very interesting, half of the girl’s face is illuminated by light while the other half is hidden by shadow. The lack of recognition of the light could symbolise how the light is the possible hope and help that can come from an organisation like the NSPCC, but due to the darkness she is immersed in she is unable to recognise the escape that is within her reach.

The written codes in this advert are presented firstly, by the NSPCC slogan ‘Talking helps it stop. FULL STOP.’ The use of capital letters and bold text makes the message not only stand out but exaggerated the message being presented. The way the text is worded makes it clear that the text is aimed at the people being abused, as many personal pronouns ‘You’ are used throughout which gives the viewer a direct and personal connection with the poster as it may make them feel like the NSPCC truly understand.

The second advert I am going to look at is part of the same advertising campaign by the NSPCC, but this time it is specifically centred around the topic of sexual abuse. The poster presents a backdrop of a girl's bedroom with a tie and a mask hanging on hooks. 

The mask that is hanging on the hook is of a young girl, who is obviously of school age due to the tie hanging next to it. The expression that is displayed on the mask, shows the girl to be smiling which connotes that she is constantly hiding behind her true emotions and must keep up a facade and wear a ‘mask’ in order to hide the fact that she has been sexually abused and that she is in pain. Despite the expression on the mask being, at first glance, a happy expression, the smile seems forced and does not present a face of someone with genuine happiness. This only further presents the struggle that the victims must be going through as even their false persona does not live up to the happy-go-lucky personality that a young girl is expected to embody. 

The fact that a young girl is used, only further emphasises the harsh reality of abuse as something so horrible has been done to someone who is perceived as innocent and the most vulnerable of the two genders. The fact that the mask is hung on an equal level to the school tie, reveals that this concealing of emotions is not an uncommon occurrence and in fact, is worn as much as her school tie which is worn almost everyday. This need to put on a facade, is something that the abused must deal with everyday. This advertisement not only urges parents and carers to look out for changes in their child’s emotions as this could be a sign of abuse, but also advises teachers and people in schools to look out for these issues and address them if they have any inclination that something is wrong. This advert truly addresses the fact that educational professionals are just as involved in a child's life as the parents and must be aware that these situations do arise. This advert targets peoples need to nurture due to the fact that a large amount of people viewing the advert will either have daughters or know girls of this age. This fact makes the advert very relatable and gives people more of an inclination to get involved.

Due to the setting of the advert being a very feminine bedroom, it implies that sexual abuse is primarily done to females as they are far more vulnerable and at risk in these areas of abuse. Some people may disagree with this type of presentation, especially males who have suffered sexual abuse, as this topic is very rarely approached with the ideas of boys suffering in mind. The light pink walls and heart decorations, represents a type of innocents that is very rarely replicated by people of over a certain age. The obvious lack of innocents that the girl in the advertisement has, due to the message presented, may be trying to target parents and careers who are unaware of their child's issues.

The written codes on this advert truly target the abused instead of people in the abused life. The use of personal pronouns creates a personal connection with the people viewing the advert and may just cause them to reach out and get the help that they need. The wording of the text, gives a very un-forceful tone to the advertisement ‘When you’re ready’. Here, the NSPCC put a large amount of emphasis on the fact that it is the abused choice when and if to speak out. This type of charity is not created to force people to become uncomfortable, but to reassure people that help and advice is out there and that this is nothing to be ashamed of. NSPCC, truly target people need for guidance and need to feel safe as this charity promises a secure place were no judgement is enforced, only help.