That Time I Wrote a Rhetorical Analysis (My Second Major Project)

I wrote this project to analyze an ad. I used what I knew about the text and the audience to describe the decisions that the ad's creators made.

Rhetorical Analysis of "Moms Demand Action" Ad Campaign

Moms Demand Action

The main purpose of an Advertisement is to persuade an audience to act or change their way of thinking.  Advertisements use various tools to get there point across including, connecting a product to an idea, using things that trigger emotion, wording, colors, and endorsements all to persuade their intended audience. It is very important to understand ads and how they are created because they have a huge impact on the things we buy, what we believe, who we believe, and what we support. In the advertisement, the Grey Agency Network used what is known about American values to compare something as harmless as a chocolate Kinder egg to something as lethal as an assault rifle, all in the context of gun control in America.

My ad was created by Grey Agency Network, in Toronto Canada. It was intended for the American public, more specifically parents, moms, and families. The creators of this ad used what is known about American culture and tragic events to convince their audience to question gun control laws that are in place and demand more safety for their kids. The setting that the Grey Agency used was that of a class room. There was writing on the blackboard, desks, books, etc. Everything you would find in a normal class room. At the front of the room you see two characters that are brighter than anything else in the room. Two kids, an Asian boy and a Caucasian girl standing with familiar objects in their hands. They are young, probably in the third or fourth grade. The boy is holding a kinder egg (chocolate egg) something small and harmless and the girl is holding an Assault rifle something much more serious and potentially dangerous.

For those of you who don't know Kinder eggs have been banned in the United States by the FDA. It was considered unsafe and a choking hazard to put a toy in a candy bar. The Grey Agency Network did a very bold thing by comparing something as small as a piece of candy to a weapon with such caliber. There are so many differences between these two items, but the Grey Agency executed this idea perfectly. If something so small and essentially harmless is banned from being sold in the United States. Why aren't guns, something that can be potentially lethal, being held to the same standard? Especially know because of so many shootings and tragic events that have happened in schools in the United States. The creator of this ad used this comparison as a sort of wake-up call to moms, parents, and families. The Grey Agency knows how much the American culture cares about family and sticking up for what you believe in. That is why they used kids as the main characters in the ad.  

The kids in the gun awareness advertisement are used to connect the audience to the topic. In the ad the kids are both standing tall. No emotion on their face. Almost as if they have grown used to the items in their hands. It doesn’t faze them anymore, they have grown numb to it. The creators of the ad used this description and detail to capture the attention and compassion of the audience. The ad creators know how the consumer will respond and that’s why they used kids. To convince the audience to act and protect their kids from something dangerous. A parent would do anything for their kid and that is why the Grey Agency cleverly used kids in a normal setting holding dangerous items in their hands.

Gun control has always been a very controversial topic in the United States. It's always been discussed and talked about in school, politics, etc. It’s always been a topic that has been attached to a lot of bias depending on how it is being presented. The Grey Agency presented gun use as a very negative thing. The creators of this ad had an outside opinion on gun control in America and that’s why they were able to create something powerful. The past couple of years have brought a lot of tragic school shootings in American and other countries are starting to notice. The world is wanting to help make a change by creating ads like this to persuade the audience to take a stand. We’ve seen too many events like this happen in recent history, and it will only get worse if we don’t address gun control and gun violence in America.

After looking into the ad and analyzing it I realized that this ad wasn’t created by Americans. It was created by an outside party, in this case Canada, for the American audience. I think that is a key part in understanding this Advertisement. On the bottom right hand side of the poster it shows the campaign for the ad and it reads “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America”. The tone that the campaign sets is a very urgent and almost demanding tone. It was made by a Canadian company For an American audience, hence the urgent and slightly demanding tone. If the ad was created by an American company, it would've been approached in a different less emotional way. The Grey Agency really wanted to make sure to grasp the audience's attention. At the bottom of the ad it reads “We won't sell kinder chocolate eggs in the interest of child safety. Why not assault weapons?”. The grey agency is using powerful and direct language to let the audience know their main concern.They really want parents, and the American public to act and start making choices that will keep their children safe.

The first time I saw the ad, I didn’t really understand it completely. I was so impacted by the image of a child holding a fire arm that was almost as big as her. It was powerful and almost frightening. The child wasn’t in action or anything but just the image of her standing there gave me goosebumps. Her fascial expressions made me feel almost as if she thought it was normal, almost as if she had grown numb to gun violence and to recent tragic school events. The creator of the ad clearly did an amazing job at capturing my complete attention. The Grey Agency was not beating around the bush and gave the audience a very clear image. An image that was hard to forget.

The Grey Agency did a very good job of capturing my attention. They used the correct images, wording, ideas, etc. To make their point be known and impact their audience. We need to act and make sure that our kids are in a safe environment. We need to be urgent and smart about how we protect our children. We need to stand up for what we believe in and make sure that the next generation grows up without fear of losing their lives in a classroom.

Work Cited

“Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America: Kinder Egg.” RSS, 1 July 2013, www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/moms_demand_action_for_gun_sense_in_america_kinder_egg.