Whether they are popping out of a television screen, crackling out of a radio, gleaming at you from the pages of a magazine, or flashing uncontrollably enough to cause an epileptic seizure on the side of a webpage, advertisements demand the viewers’ attention and serve only one purpose, getting your support. However, this demand for support is neither entirely positive nor negative. Not all ads try to sell you an overpriced sports car or a specific brand of lung-blackening cigarettes. But at the same time, not all ads tempt you into becoming a modern knight in shining armor by giving blood or donating to a charity either. Advertisers will use any means to get into your life, into your head, or into your wallet.
Instead of seducing its way into your wallet, some beneficial advertisements exist to spread awareness about a particular cause or person. But all ads, positive or negative, exercise the vast power of persuasion, using a full arsenal to get your support for a specific cause or company. For example, the American Red Cross tries to coax people into donating blood by pulling at the public’s emotions and pride, claiming that, “it’s one of the many simple actions we can take to…prepare for the unexpected…and it doesn’t take much time. When we come together, we become part of something bigger than us all.” (Source A) Not only does this ad claim that giving blood is quick and easy, it also stresses that its viewer will give blood and thus somehow become “a part of something bigger than us all.” What exactly the American Red Cross means by this phrase isn’t clarified, but it sure has a nice ring to it that makes the act of giving blood seem irresistibly humanitarian and maybe even heroic. You know what else has a nice ring to it? Being able to think of yourself as a humanitarian hero. Red Cross realizes that if its ad evokes this emotion of pride it can get the public to support its cause, which many will agree is beneficial since the act of giving blood can...