Advertisement: I AM AFRICAN

1.       The goal of this advertisement is to get people to donate money to the “Keep a Child Alive” organization in order to buy AIDS drugs.

2.       The argument is that we all are the same (look! Gwyneth Paltrow is African). There are no differences. Because of this, we must help each other. We must help in Africa like we would help our neighbors here.

3.       The audience is the target audience of the magazine in which these ads ran. The magazines vary, but it would more likely be in TIME magazine than Automotive Digest. They are reaching out to an audience that is somewhat globally minded and culturally opened, people who would respond to a message addressing global social issues.

4.       They go about arguing their issue through using specifically ethos and pathos. Using a celebrity like Gwyneth Paltrow gives their cause credibility. If someone as famous as her is willing to put their face on the campaign, it can’t be a scam or an organization that would otherwise damage her reputation. Gwyneth’s face says you can trust the organization with your money. They also lean on emotional appeal. In the white print on the bottom it asks for help in stopping people from dying. It specifies family members – a child, a mother, a father. Everyone has families, so by bringing the family into it, instead of just saying “an African” or “a person,” they are connecting to the heart of the readers. Because of this connection, not giving could produce feelings of guilt.

5.       I think it is effective. They create empathy and make people on the other side of the world relate to problems in Africa. I don’t know how much money the organization actually receives, but if they have the support of celebrities (Paltrow is not the only participant), they must have quite the foundation.

STAR

Is the evidence sufficient? I think that for the purpose of this ad, it is sufficient. They grab your attention by saying “I am African” which lets you know that the problems are in Africa. And then they tell you on the bottom what is going on (people are dying from AIDS) and tell you that you can help save them by helping buy AIDS drugs. They also give the website and the name of the organization in case I want to help.

Is the ad relevant to the argument? Yes, I think it definitely is. The AIDS epidemic is raging most strongly in Africa, and the ad makes this clear. They want Americans to help, so they brought in a very American-looking movie star to say that she is African. Turning her African is very relavent to getting people to help in the campaign. And then the white text at the bottom is the heart of the matter, and is definitely related to what they are trying to argue.