The advertisement, “SAVE WATER, SAVE LIFE”, is comprised of a dripping water tap connected to a quarter-filled, oval-shaped fish bowl. Within the fish bowl, an orange fish nervously stares at the dripping water tap. The color scheme of the ad is a combination of light and dark greys, yet the orange fish disrupts the color scheme which makes the fish the focal point of the ad.
The fish bowl with the dripping tap only covers about one-third of the ad, and the remaining portion of the ad is filled with grey which makes the advertisement very simple, but the simplicity of the illustration bears a powerful message. The advertisement, “SAVE WATER, SAVE LIFE”, makes an attempt to persuade a diverse audience to conserve water.
In my opinion, the ad successfully persuades a broad audience because the subject matter and techniques used in the ad allow the audience identify with the message. Specifically, the contrast of color, the usage of the fish, and the shape of the tank are the tools that effectively persuade audience into identifying with the message of the ad. The following will illustrate how the tools in the advertisement are effective in conveying the message of the ad.
One of the aspects of the advertisement that accentuates the message is the contrast of color. The ad consists of varying shades of gray in the background and the orange color of the fish in the foreground. In my opinion, the author chose shades of gray in the background in order to draw attention to the fish which is the subject matter of the ad.
Personally, when I saw the ad my eyes went straight to the orange fish because of the gray background. If there were more colors used in the ad, they would draw attention away from the fish, thus, distracting the audience from the message. Using simple color schemes in the background of the advertisement also accentuates the severity of the topic (Bedan 7).
The grays in the background create a somber feeling in the audience because gray is a color that represents serious subject matter. The somber feeling of the audience allows them to realize the severity of the topic being discussed in the ad. Although the color scheme of the advertisement was simple, the simple colors enhanced the message of water conservation for the audience.
The advertisement appeals to a varied audience because of the indirect human appeal (Langford 42) created by the manner of the orange fish. The orange fish is humanized by the panic expressed by the stare of the fish at the dripping water tap because all humans have felt panic which allows for a varied audience to identify with the plight of the orange fish.
The orange fish also appeals to a varied audience because the fish does not represent a particular type of person. No race, gender, age, or career is specified in the ad because of the orange fish being the subject matter. Since no particular division of people is targeted, the ad can reach out to a variety of people. A farmer or a lawyer will be compelled to conserve water due to the ad not singling out a particular group of people.
Overall, the author’s usage of the clever usage of the orange fish draws a diverse audience because the manner of the fish humanizes the fish and the subject matter of the fish allows different groups of people to identify with the fish which helps to effectively convey the message of the ad.
Another way the author conveys the message of water conservation to a diverse audience is through the usage of a round fish bowl as the habitat of the orange fish. A broad audience can identify with the habitat of the orange fish because the fish bowl is round like earthly habitat of the audience. The constant dripping of water out of the fish bowl that is already a quarter-full can be compared to the wastage of water on earth as a whole which amplifies the message of water conservation in the ad.
No matter what walk of life a member from the audience may come from, all of the audience share earth as their home, and in some way identify with water being an important natural resource. The tank only being a quarter-full also amplifies the message of the ad because the little water in the tank illustrates how severe the water situation is on earth.
If the tank were to be almost full, the audience would not feel the urgency and severity of the message. The previous information illustrates how the shape of the tank allows the audience to identify with the message of the ad.
Ultimately, the techniques mentioned above come together to bring an important issue to a diverse group of people by using what the audience has in common with one another. The gray color scheme in the background allow for the focus (Bedan 4) to be on the orange fish in the bowl.
The panic in the fish illustrated by the stare at the dripping tap humanizes the fish and allows a diverse group to identify with the manner of the fish because all humans can identify with the feeling of panic, and the fish does not target a particular race or gender.
The shape of the fish bowl allows for a diverse audience to identify because the bowl is very similar to earth. The author uses the techniques mentioned to make the audience identify with the ad which makes conveying the message of water conservation more effective because the audience can apply the aspects to the ad to their individual lives.
Works Cited
Berdan, Robert. (2004). Composition and the elements of visual design. Photo Composition Articles, 20 January, 2004. Web.
Langford, Michael. The Master Guide to Photography. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1982. Print.