https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc
One main aspect of this commercial that draws the attention of the audience would be the use of the song “Angel”. The somber song evokes a sense of empathy from the viewers. The slow song goes hand in hand with the message of the ad, which is animal cruelty and giving these animals another chance at life. The very first line of the song, “Spend all your time waiting/ for that second chance,” emphasizes this meaning as it implores viewers to help the animals affected by cruelty and giving them a home to live. The lyrics itself mirror the condition of the animals in the shelter, who are beaten and abused and are waiting for a chance in a loving home.
Sumaiyah Ali
Sarah Mclachlan is a famous celebrity. Her fame came about at the same time the commercial was released. She has sold 40 million worldwide.She is also an animal rights activist. She is not only an animal rights activist but she also helps raise money for other causes such as AIDS and Her way of helping the society is to raise money for animals. She is a Canadian born singer/songwriter. The reason that she is featured in this commercial is because it attracts people and to donate money. In a way it might also help her own fame but for the most part it helps the cause to protect animals. Any popular person who endorses a group can help that group reach its highest potential. People like Sarah can inspire other celebrities to stand up for a cause. She can plead to her fans. Also because she is a celebrity she can make it to the tabloids and the news headlines, which can help the cause even more. Any celebrity can help a cause or a purpose reach a grateful height, in this case celebrity Sarah Mclachlan used her fame to help animals and increase the velocity of the cause to protect the animals.
Gaurav Gupta
The imagery in this commercial by the BCSPCA is extremely powerful and helps to evoke sadness and empathy from the audience. The purpose of this commercial is to gain donations from viewers in order to help the animals pictured. The sight of deformed cats and dogs is used as a means to gain an action response from viewers. The use of imagery here is extremely effective because the commercial uses these commanding images. The commercial shows frames of kittens and puppies reaching their paws through the bars of dark cages. The commercial also pictures one dog limping, one with a bandage, and one missing an ear. The goal here is to show that these animals are clearly in need of urgent care and love.
Meirav Weintraub
The song, text, and words of Sarah McLachlan all contribute to the message of this commercial. Through evoking emotions such as empathy and kindheartedness from the audience, BCSPCA will be able to achieve their goal; persuading their audience to donate money in order to support the rescue and care of helpless animals. There is also a “reward” for donating $18 a month, a welcome kit including pictures of animals from the shelter. The use of facts and statistics aids in convincing those who are watching to donate. It is all of the components within this video that communicate the essence of the advertisement.
Katherine Laurencio
Despite having no pet, this draws out really strong emotions in most viewers. Animal cruelty exists everywhere but many of us turn a blind eye because we don’t have pets. What I think is most effective in this video was the song and slow pacing of the closeup animal shots. The song “Angel” corresponded with the topic of animal cruelty. We can see the faces of the dogs and cats and this draws out the empathy side of most of us. However, despite the sadness and emotional response, I don’t think a majority of those who watch this will donate despite knowing what the cause is for.
After watching this video about animal cruelty, I felt very empathetic towards the animals, and the way the video reached to me was through the pictures of animals. Seeing pictures of animals in a sad state, accompanied by the text saying how often they get abused, really got to me. This advertisement to get people to donate to their cause does a great job getting people to empathize with the animals, but at the same time, it is not effective, because I believe that most of the time, people won’t be moved enough to donate; they will just cry a little, be angry at animal abuse and cruelty, and then move on to the next commercial. This advertisement, I believe, is not enough for most people to make them want to donate, but it does a great job at picking the right music, pictures of animals, and a soothing voice like Sarah McLachlan’s.
This has always been a great example of effective advertising to me. Whenever I’ve watched this commercial it has never failed to make me emotional, something that the creators of the visual ad seem to be seeking to do. The strong invoking music paired with images of abused and neglected animals, are hard to ignore and easy to touch people’s hearts. However personally, a critique could be that when overplayed, it seems to slowly lose its message. When seen multiple times over the course of the day, I am more likely to press mute than to call and donate.
After watching this commercial, the thing that most stood out to me was the music. The music has a sad sound and sad lyrics meant to elicit a compassionate response from viewer. Music like this is a common thread in most of the BCSPCA’s commercials to the point where now when people hear a Sarah McLachlan song they are prepared to see an animal cruelty commercial. I believe that using these songs makes the commercial less effective because by now people have become so used to them that they know what’s coming and may actually change the channel. The commercial that you used is from 2006 so maybe back then this wasn’t the case and the song was actually effective, but now it seems like it is time for these ads to be updated in order to appeal to the audience once again.
Great choice for a video, and I congratulate this group for doing an excellent job commenting on various details of this video: text, song lyrics, use of celebrity, the specific images, and the call to action at the end. Think, too, about the particular details of these images, and the choices that the videographers made (how are these animals deformed/maimed, and note that they show cats and dogs, the animals most people can relate to). Think, as well, about the specific demographic, as we continue your discussion in class on Wed.
Very well done, group!
This is easily one of the most recognizable and almost legendary advertisements of all time. It’s certainly not a secret that the advertisers are trying to invoke a certain emotion in anyone who watches this. This montage of sad and abused animals is almost guaranteed to make you feel at the very least somber. In combination with the depressing and slow nature of “In the Arms of An Angel” you are left with a classic commercial that has now become the punchline of several comedians stand-up sessions. While this advertisement is a bit of a joke now, theres no denying that it’s extremely effective because of the emotions this commercial forces you to feel. You don’t have to be a dog or cat owner to sympathize for these animals and want to donate, as a younger me once wanted to do after seeing this ad.
Matthew Epstein