Barnardo`s Beat Poverty Campaign
Charities often have a limited budget when it comes to producing campaign material. They do however want their campaigns to be seen by as many people as possible. Larger charities will often use visual material such as television advertising. More often than not visual campaigns are often seen in the form of billboard posters and leaflets to get messages across to the public.
Banned in November 2002 after a number of complaints, the Beat Poverty Campaign shows four newborn babies with a cockroach, a bottle of Methylated Spirit, a syringe and a spoon in their mouths. The images are a play on the phrase, "born with a silver spoon in your mouth." I feel this campaign is a good example of non-verbal communication to reach mass audiences.
The benefits of using images over words is shown perfectly in this campaign. To convey the meaning of poverty in text would be very difficult, to produce a visual representation in this way is much more memorable. Powerful imagery which plays on the emotions of its audience is an important factor for any advertisement, but particularly for charities who are often trying to change opinion or behaviour.
Charities often have a limited budget when it comes to producing campaign material. They do however want their campaigns to be seen by as many people as possible. Larger charities will often use visual material such as television advertising. More often than not visual campaigns are often seen in the form of billboard posters and leaflets to get messages across to the public.
Banned in November 2002 after a number of complaints, the Beat Poverty Campaign shows four newborn babies with a cockroach, a bottle of Methylated Spirit, a syringe and a spoon in their mouths. The images are a play on the phrase, "born with a silver spoon in your mouth." I feel this campaign is a good example of non-verbal communication to reach mass audiences.
The benefits of using images over words is shown perfectly in this campaign. To convey the meaning of poverty in text would be very difficult, to produce a visual representation in this way is much more memorable. Powerful imagery which plays on the emotions of its audience is an important factor for any advertisement, but particularly for charities who are often trying to change opinion or behaviour.
The use of graphic shock tactics is apparent when the poster is seen for the first time. Anything involving children is immediately emotive but the fact it uses newborn babies seems to make it even more shocking.
Although the pictures are very shocking, the main reason for the ban on its use was due to a perceived unsuitability of the material. Many of those who complained said the images were misleading as a representation of poverty and that there were worrying connotations which came with the choice of images.
If images are used in replace of words then considerations need to be taken into what messages and meanings will be taken from the images. Does a child with a cockroach crawling from its mouth equal being in poverty? Do all children who are from poor backgrounds have parents who do drugs? Clearly the answer here is no, but care needs to be taken to prevent the images suggesting this.
This campaign is a great example of how important it is to use imagery which conveys a message to an audience correctly, without in fact muddying the way the message is interpreted by a sometimes sensitive, emotionally driven audience.
Although the pictures are very shocking, the main reason for the ban on its use was due to a perceived unsuitability of the material. Many of those who complained said the images were misleading as a representation of poverty and that there were worrying connotations which came with the choice of images.
If images are used in replace of words then considerations need to be taken into what messages and meanings will be taken from the images. Does a child with a cockroach crawling from its mouth equal being in poverty? Do all children who are from poor backgrounds have parents who do drugs? Clearly the answer here is no, but care needs to be taken to prevent the images suggesting this.
This campaign is a great example of how important it is to use imagery which conveys a message to an audience correctly, without in fact muddying the way the message is interpreted by a sometimes sensitive, emotionally driven audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment