Charity Advertising Research 8

Amnesty - Human Rights, TV Shopping Parody
This is an advert by the charity Amnesty and the aim of it is to raise awareness of the war and lack of human rights in poorer countries.


Ideologies 
The ideologies that the advert promotes, is that it's normal to use these weapons at a young age in certain places round the world. This is implied, because here we see these shopping programmes as normal, and the fact that they're seem to be advertising an AK47 makes the use of the weapon seem normal. Another message that the advert could put across, is that maybe here in our country we do not take war seriously because we do not see it. The fact that this advert is a parody could suggest this.

Visual & Audio Techniques
The advert consists of two presenters advertising an AK47, a gun that's used in war countries. The characters in the advert are the 2 presenter, man and woman, and a young boy, who demonstrates how to use the weapon. A child has been used to try and get the reality across to the audience, and the fact that the boy is British would be effective because it makes it more relatable and shocking for the audience. The text is shown in different places and is set out very similiar to typical shopping programmes. At one point, it says 'It doesn't matter who you are, or what you want them for...' This shows the extent at which the guns are used, as they're accessible to everyone.  Not only does the text attempt to 'advertise' the product by stating its characteristics, it informs the audience of the counties where war is at its worst, so the text is used to make the audience aware in many different ways. At one point, there is a shot of the gun and everything ky comes with sitting on the table, and the lighting is focused on it. This makes the gun come across as a positive object which would surprise the audience as they're not the typical conventions of weapons.

Advertising Techniques
One of the advertising techniques used in the advert is shock tactics. This is displayed when we see a young british boy using an AK47, and using it to demonstrate the uses of it. This may shock the audience because we are not exposed to this, unlike people in many countries where war is an issue. The language used to make the audience understand the idea of the advert could also encourage a response, when he says ' What do you think child soldiers are using in the likes of ...?' This rhetorical question will make the audience think, and may appeal to their need to nurture when they realise that this is the reality for children around the world. Another way in which the audience will be persuaded to respond to th advert is where it says 'Call Now.' Although this is meant to look like its there for the parody, the use of the imperative will alarm the audience and they will therefore follow the imperative and help the charity.

What works/what doesn't
I think this advert works in many different ways, for example I like that it's a parody of a shopping programme, because it will really engage the audience because it's an unusual and shocking product to see on a programme like this. However, in some ways I don't feel as though the audience will empathise with the people in the actual situation so maybe more emotive language or images could've been used.