advertising practice textual analysis November 2016 by Daniel Eve

Both of these adverts are aimed at getting victims/witnesses of child abuse to come forward about their abuse.

They both utilise some of the same key components; for one they both depict the victim as a young woman/girl which falls in line with the common consensus that women are abused more than men. In addition to that neither advert shows who the abuser was, possibly to imply that it's not ok who abuses you, be it a friend, family member or a complete stranger.

 the first visual code to address would be the person in each advert, the ChildLine advert doesn't depict the person directly but instead shows their face on a mask, conveying to the audience that victims of abuse may bottle up and hide their emotions behind a facade. She appears to be a school girl, indicated by her appearance and the school tie hanging on the rack; one key thing to note is the choice of a tie as opposed to a bag or a school jumper, as tie's are generally only worn by secondary school students and not primary school students, Indicating the increased vulnerability that students aged 11-16 face. In contrast the face of the black woman on the NSPCC advert takes up the majority of the poster space with the only additional visual code in focus being the 'mute button'. This  represents the focus on helping the victim as opposed to finding or attempting to find the culprit because she is centre frame. One could suggest that the use of a black person as a victim helps show that abuse isn't exclusive to certain communities.

The other visual code in the ChildLine advert is the love heart stickers on the door. Placing stickers on your door is generally considered something a child would do as children generally personalise their room more, this is because as they grow older the average person has less time, energy and interest in decorating their room. This connotation helps to demonstrate to the audience that in the vast majority if not all cases of child abuse the victim is completely innocent because they had a lack of free will in a situation they were too inexperienced to deal with.

Meanwhile the NSPCC advert makes use of a mute button as a visual code. the first connotation of a mute button is silence, which clearly represents the state that many victims suffer in. Another link can be made between the mute button and mobile devices, helping the audience make the connection between abuse and online interaction.

The ChildLine advert takes into account the environment and lifestyle of the victim showing the girl to be a student with a pink, decorated room, while the NSPCC advert gives 100% of the attention to to the victim. This may reflect the different attitudes of the two different organisations as ChildLine may look more into the child's environment while NSPCC may work more on helping the victim recover.

One last subtle piece of symbolism to bring attention to is the door in the ChildLine advert; a door can be used to enter and exit a room, and it appears that our POV is from the inside therefore seeking help would be opening the door and escaping the situation.

When it comes to written codes, i can identify 3 in the NSPCC advert while i can only identify 2 in the ChildLine advert, This is most likely due to the NSPCC advert being more text heavy (one paragraph as opposed to 2-3 lines).

 The visual codes of the advert (NSPCC)  indicate the problem, and the firt written code provides a solution: "when you can't talk about abuse, talk to us". this solution is reinforced by the second written code, Which acknowledges many of a potential victim's question : "what do you say?, who to?, and what exactly is abuse?", followed up by the answers "there a several places you can turn, for free, ...24 hours a day, ...expert advice and support on a dedicated website". By answering these questions it helps provide reassurance to the audience and any potential/afraid victims that they will be able to provide assistance. The last written code drives this point even further with the phrase "talking helps it stop. FULL STOP.". This use of a slogan helps keep the advert, and therefore the relevant information in mind, should the situation arise. The use of the phrase "FULL STOP" indicates an immediate end, implying that this support will put an immediate end to the ongoing abuse.

The ChildLine advert's use of written  codes is more soft and comforting as opposed to defensive and confidence boosting. The use of the mask as mentioned earlier combined with the phrase "you don't have to hide it anymore" helps remove the false stigma of shame that comes from being abused. By saying "you don't have to" as opposed to 'you don't need to' makes the statement appear more soft and comforting because a 'have' feels more like an obligation while a 'need' is a necessity. This sense of soft guidance, parallel to the confidence boosting of the NSPCC statements, is driven home by the use the term "when you're ready" at the start of a sentence; this term supports the idea that help and advice is a step in the right direction instead of a clinical process.

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