The Design of an advertisement is meant to be eye-catching or relatable, in order to get the attention of its viewer. In particular, companies' and foundations' advertising against drugs, alcohol and unsafe sex seem to have perfected the use of an ad to shock their viewer and cause them to ask questions, seek answers and debate what they have just experienced.Or, they wish to depict something relatable so one will reflect on their own life, resulting in analysis of the presented information. In essence, they use their ads to spark controversial conversation.
In an ad done by the French Council on AIDS Awareness, a woman is portrayed with a massive spider between her legs, that is supposedly performing oral sex on her. The image is shocking and makes one feel the need to cross his or her legs in order to protect themselves from such pain. This imagined pain is thus equated to the feeling of an STD. So now they've got you thinking, "Man, I sure as hell don't want an STD if I am going to be in pain down there" and look you've now started a conversation. Regardless of if you have another to verbally converse the topic with or you are alone rummaging through thoughts in your mind, this striking design has caused you to think longer on their topic than just the brief moment you eyed their billboard on the freeway. Design is used as a catalyst to get people to notice issues that can easily be overlooked if not directly engaged.
Another way advertisers in this particular field get us talking is through the use of commercials that depict "real life". For example, The "Above The Influence" campaign airs a commercial showing "real footage" of a high-school party where a drunk female is drawn on because she is incapacitated.
With their target audience being the teenage, high-school set, viewers of that group can imagine a time where they experienced a similar event. This recall alone will spark conversation. A group of highschoolers will undoubtably start ranting over the time they saw so and so passed out and "disgusting" with marks all over their face and how "embarrassing that was". The advertiser designed his or her commercial to do just this. This simple conversation, sparked by fifteen second clip, has got teenagers all over the country talking about these instances. Thus, whether they know it or not, they are becoming more aware, and thus more informed with the consequences of drinking to much alcohol.
Simple design tricks of creating shock, or appealing to what we humans experience daily, is an advertisers main method of starting a conversation, in essence a domino effect. Through this, minds are sparked, conversation abounds and people become more informed on the controversy.
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