As the sun’s harmful rays beam through the depleting ozone layer the globe begins to warm, earths polar ice caps melt and slowly start the elimination of life. This ad demonstrates the cause and effect of global warming. The world inside the lower quadrant of the hourglass is slowly getting swallowed by the sea due to the melting ice caps above. Within the hourglass there’s text stating “we are slowly running out of time, act now before it’s too late”. In the top of the hour glass a polar bear and penguin sit upon two nearly melted ice caps.
The world below has cars driving into a city passed chopped down trees, and a gas station. Although the ad appears to be warning us of global warming, it’s actually warning us of our own selfishness! The ad uses three main tactics to achieve this, presentation of text, types of images, and image composition. The advertisers decided to use presentation of text in a subtle way to get their point across. The display of the text in this ad has diminutive properties. This relates to the feeling human beings have towards the situation of global warming.
It indicates that we conveniently believe it’s a small issue and doesn’t need to be presented as a major problem. People avoid the truth and would rather just pass it on to the next generation to deal with. The use of this tactic helps sell the idea that we are to selfish to address the situation. Even though we have scientific evidence that global warming is happening, and that the polar ice caps are melting, people still don’t want to make it an issue. People would rather act selfish and destroy the earth then be inconvenienced and have to give up their comfortable lives.
A stronger tactic used by the advertiser is the use of types of images, which provides us with further evidence. The types of images used in this ad show the advertisers point in a more straight forward manner. They use the images of street lights leading up to a city full of high-rises to provide us with the notion that we abuse energy. On the sides of the road there’s chopped down trees and a gas station indicating how human beings rape our land of its natural resources. Cars fill the street showing a luxury that pollutes and destroys the earth.
All of which directly correlates with the image of the melting polar ice caps in the top of the hourglass. Once again it sells the idea that the ad informs us of our own selfishness. It indicates that people will do anything for their luxuries, even if it destroys our own planet. Providing evidence that our selfishness will not let anything stand between us and the things we love, even at the highest cost. By using a less noticeable, although stronger tactic, composition of images provides us with further evidence of their strategy.
Image composition is the last and strongest tactic used by the advertiser. In the top frame of the hourglass the ice cap sits in pure blue water. In the lower section of the hourglass the earth is being swallowed by stagnant deathly water indicating the lack of life. Plus in the top frame a polar bear and a penguin sit perched anticipating their final moments of life as their worlds slowly melt away. As two birds hover above ground as their world disappears as well. This sells the idea by showing that people are too selfish to care not just about their own lives, but also every other life on this planet.
Other creatures are going to die directly caused by our actions. The sea water levels are going to rise while the land becomes engulfed causing life on earth to diminish. And we are too selfish to look around and realize that we are destroying all habitats. Yet we still act like we are alone on this planet. This ad warns us of both global warming and our selfishness as human beings. By combining three tactics, presentation of text, types of images, and image composition the advertisers show us the affects of both.
The use of dying animals, abused natural resources, man made cars, and the melting polar ice cap allows us to see the correlation between the issue of global warming and our selfishness. The presentation of text raises the awareness of people thinking it’s not a major situation, thus selling the ideas of global warming and our selfishness towards the belief of global warming. Each involves us in a selfish manner and uses cause and effect to sell the product. If humans keep being selfish and don’t stop taking advantage of our planet, then there will be no planet left to take advantage of.