The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland amongst the Catholics and Protestants also recognized as the Political Divide has existed for centuries. There was a return of violence in the 1960’s, which has been continuous till this present time. The unrest in Ulster has caused a significant number of deaths. The two advertisements that I will analyse in this coursework are from a series of advertisements from an advertising campaign produced by “MaCANN-ERICKSON”.
The aim of the advertisements was to publicise a free phone number that allowed the citizens of Northern Ireland to phone the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to give information anonymously. The ads used any means possible to manipulate the citizens of Ulster into calling the free number (0800 666 999) to give information. The two adverts I am going to analyse are “Wanna be like you” and “New Boys”.
“Wanna be like you” is an advert about a plot based on a father who is involved in crime connected with murder. He hardly has time for his son, but his son grows up to be like him. In the end his son dies due to some unknown reason, and his dad realises that his son had grown up to be like him. The advert uses violent scenes to influence the audience in to making a phone call. “New Boys” is an advert about two boys who are from different traditions. But they are not concerned about the Political divide and they have fun like typical boys would. This advert uses peaceful and joyful images to persuade the audience into making a phone call.
The adverts are different because “Wanna be like you” uses violent images and “New Boys” use joyful images, but both ways are effective but also ineffective. The violent images would make the audience think that, “What if it happened to me?” and because of that they would produce a phone call. But also it would make the audience feel that they do not want to get involved in the violence so as a result they might not phone in. The joyful images would make the audience, especially the parent’s, think about the life of their children. They don’t want to ruin their children’s future due to the violence and so they would make a phone call. But it is not effective because if they call the free number their children may possibly be endangered by getting involved.
The Establishing Shot of both advertisements are similar. Both directions use an, “Over the shoulder shot” followed by a close up. In “Wanna be like you” there is an, “Over the shoulder shot” of the father followed by a close up of him. Similarly, in “New Boys” there is an “Over the shoulder shot” of one the boys and then a close up of the other boy. The adverts are different because “Wanna be like you” uses a narrative to inform the audience of the story. “New Boys” doesn’t use a narrative but the words of the music are connected with the advert.
In both adverts the director focuses a lot on facial expressions. In “Wanna be like you” there is attention on the murder when he is shooting the people at the bar. The focus of the expression shows that the man is enjoying murdering the people behind the bar. But to the audience it creates detestation and sorrow. In “New Boys” the director concentrates on both the boys. At the start of the advert including the Establishing Shot, the close up’s of both boys’ shows that they are not sure about each, but they end up becoming friends. It shows the audience that the boys do not care if they are from different traditions but they are still friends and this is how the audience is meant to feel as well. This shows effectiveness as it helps to get the message across and also it will make the probably make the audience want to make a phone call.
