RWS 100 T/TH
Bridget Malaney
09 December 2010
Donate to the SPCA The Los Angeles wildfires that occurred in the summer of 2008 burnt down nearly 200 homes and destroyed thousands of acres of land across the LA county. The loss of a home means the loss of everything in that home, including domestic animals. Over one hundred dogs, cats, and other household pets were saved from the horrific fire. Although we were extremely lucky to have rescued so many animals, these animals still need to be adopted in to new loving households. Because there is scarce room for these newly rescued animals, they need to be adopted as soon as possible. As a member of the SPCA’s marketing board, I designed an advertisement to help market this crisis. This ad will be featured in next months Good Housekeeping and Rolling Stones because those magazines attract the target audience that I am aiming for; middle aged couples, parents of young children and the elderly. Middle aged couples often think that having a dog will benefit their relationship by sharing a mutual love for a dog, while parents think having a dog will bring a positive influence on the children and family. Also, many single elderly people are most likely to adopt a dog as a loving companion. This advertisement is sure to get people to adopt from the SPCA because of the strategic rhetoric used throughout the page. The dominant strategies I used to were using a celebrity endorsement, vivid imagery and a strategic palate of colors for certain reasons to subliminally gain the consumers support. First, I used a well-known actress to instantly grab the attention of the magazine reader. Hayden Panitierre has been featured in many movies and TV shows lately so consumers will focus in on what she has to say. Because many people idolize celebrities such as Hayden, they will most likely trust her and believe what she is saying. Also, her picture is bright and in color contrasted with the black and white in the dog pictures to draw attention to her. The happy expression on her face makes consumers believe that if Hayden is happy and satisfied with her dog, they will also be happier after they adopt a dog. This rhetoric strategy will definitely have people wanting to go to the SPCA and rescue a dog just like Hayden. Next, I used several images to create one vivid picture. I chose to put a red stripe in the middle to separate the two forms of imagery to help create an eye line for the viewer. On the upper half, I placed a large picture of a house in flames to make the viewer first think of the intensity of the disaster. Also, this image helps the reader create a scenario in their head of what the fire would have been like if they were present which would make them more vulnerable to adopt. I placed the dogs at the bottom because once viewers fill their head with thoughts of the fire, they immediately see the saddened faces of shelter dogs and become even more emotional and are therefore more susceptible to donating or adopting. The faces of the dogs play a huge role in tugging on the readers emotions. There is nothing more sad than seeing a helpless animal so sad, scared and alone. These faces alone can persuade viewers to rescue