This advertisement by the National
Health Service provides what Goldberg et al. (1999) coined a ‘Pictorial Analogy’
template advertisement. Addiction is demonstrated
through showing smokers with fish hooks through their lips. The replacement
that occurs is that of the cigarette with a fish hook, encapsulating the vulnerable
position smokers are in as well as the concepts implicit in being ‘hooked’ in
which you have less control over your life due to being controlled by this
destructive force. The advertisement was perceived as very strong and the
standards committee of advertising received a vast amount of complaints for
this advert, despite it not being abjectly offensive the analogy drawn is a
very perturbing and affective one. Another component of this advert that lends
it weight to its audience is how ill the man whose lip is hooked looks. They have
smartly incorporated some of the superficial detrimental effects of smoking
whilst also addressing a deep analogy.
The style of this advert is concurrent
with what Pechmann & Reibling (2006) found to be one of the most effective techniques of persuasive messages of this kind. In their study ‘Antismoking Advertisements
for Youths: An Independent Evaluation of Health Counter – Industry and Industry
approaches’ they found that in past studies, asking teenagers about their
opinions of anti-smoking adverts and campaigns, teenagers had expressed the opinion that in terms of effectiveness they ‘generally
preferred’ advertisements that were health-themed but that evoked strong
negative emotions. They themselves went on to find that adverts that were most effective
depicted young people suffering from tobacco related diseases. I think the
advertisements in this campaign by the NHS are a very effective attempt at communicating the
psychological and physical ailments that come hand in hand with addiction to
tobacco.
Pechmann, C., & Reibling, E.
T. (2006) Antismoking Advertisements for Youths: An independent Evaluation of
Health Counter-Industry and Industry approaches. American Journal of Public
Health, 96, 5, p905.
Nice work.
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