When You’re Preoccupied, Who’s Driving?

      Every year there are so many deaths resulting from texting and driving. Cellphones have made it so easy for us to stay connected and at times we can get distracted by checking text messages. This poses as a major safety risk and can result in a bad accident or even death. Besides those deaths, there are millions of survivors that were injured or disabled due to car crashes. The issue of texting and driving is common and that is why there are so many campaigns about this issue to raise awareness. There are many compelling advertisements that can make people think twice before drinking and driving. The advertisement I chose was the Ecovia’s “Stop the Violence, Don’t text and Drive” it stuck with me due to how serious and unique the advertisement is. It captures my interests and I felt that this image was influential for all young adults and teens. I can relate to this advertisement because at some point I have witness someone texting while driving. The purpose of this advertisement is to give fear and painful visuals to stop texting and driving.

      The advertisement presents a picture of a Caucasian man who seems to be in his late 30’s or early 40’s towards the left, who is bald headed and wearing a gray v neck t-shirt. He has a yellow semi-truck painted on his cheek. The background is black and dark gray ombre but becomes lighter towards the center of the picture. To the right of the man is a forearm of an African American female with a blue car painted on her fist. Her forearm appears to be hairy. The image shows the female punching the man towards the jaw area. As the female fist is striking the man jaw, the picture of the yellow truck on the man’s face and the image of the blue car on the female’s fist depicts a head-on collision of the two painted cars. As the female punches the man, he has spit spraying out of his mouth due to the impact of the punch and his eyes are close. Right underneath the female’s arm is the caption “Stop the Violence, Don’t text and Drive”, written in yellow and white, with the Ecovia logo at the bottom right corner of the advertisement.

      The appealing part of this advertisement is how they used the image of cars on the face and fist which demonstrates the impact of a car collision. Another appealing part is the message, stop the violence which shows the female arm punching the man. Don’t text and drive shows the damage of driving and texting and gives an example with the pictures of cars on the face and fist. Dark colors were used to show the negative side of the incident and death, which we affiliate with black/dark colors. The dark colors also make the colorful cars stand out. This advertisement is also targeting young adults and teens as at times we can think we are invincible. All these things are used to catch the viewers attention.

      While researching for advertisements, it was discovered that not all advertisements are as effective as they should be. Also, some advertisements resonate more with individuals based on past experiences, personal preferences, culture, etc. Some ads may speak differently to people. The reason for this is because this advertisement can be misinterpreted in many ways if the words were not present. Some may think this advertisement has to do with being abused or drunk driving. Many advertisements have been made regarding this topic to demonstrate specific messages however, this advertisement stands out the most. The advertisement uses logos to give the audience an idea of the consequences of distractive driving in an artistic, clever way. Pathos was used to show the emotion on the man’s face as he was getting punched and how someone can get hurt by texting and driving. Ethos is self-explanatory with the caption but also tells that the right thing should be done so everyone can be safe.

      Base on my analysis, I think this advertisement is effective because it raises awareness of the consequences of distractive driving. I think people are more likely to relate to this advertisement versus using longer advertisement as it can get drawn out and become boring due to all the information, they are trying to put out all at once. This advertisement gets straight to the point with just using seven words and portrays the image to justify the caption. The cars are painted bright as to stand out and makes a viewer pay attention to what is happening in the image. Also, it’s telling that one driver may suffer more from the collision than the other party as it’s shown in the image the man who is being punched reaction to the punch. I believe everyone has the will to put the phone down and focus on the road or what’s demonstrated in the image can happen to anyone. Texting and driving are probably the riskiest thing to do and with technology evolving, can become more challenging. In my opinion I think this advertisement was great due to the creative and uniqueness combination of image and caption. I also this think this should be a billboard everywhere so people can see this advertisement on a regular.

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