Charity Essay

Analyse how social and cultural context can influence advertising. Use Fig 3 to support your answer.
In your answer:
- Anaylse how social and cultural contexts influence advertising
- Make judgements and reach a conclusion on why they advertised in this way. (15 Marks)

Shelter is a charity advert that helps people, typically people with homelessness and bad housing, who are out of homes or are facing the threat of losing their home from the government. The charities  have produced adverts that advertise how different individuals who are different circumstances view their issues and how it’ll affect their lives.
These adverts contain emotive language in order to gain sympathy from all viewers and readers. The word that are written across the page, all in bold, red text, makes the reader think about others and their situations, making them feel sorry/sympathetic for those who suffer from homelessness, where they could potentially donate and help the cause of the charity. Due to these texts across the page being rather simple and vague, it seems more hard-hitting for the reader and occasionally makes them think how this situation could easily happen to them, their friends or their family members, further wanting them to donate to help.
The 3 individuals who are used in Figure 3 show a lack of representation as it portrays the emotion that homeless victims face on a day to day basis; nothing and straight-faced. This is also how homeless people are viewed to the typical working class person, who assume all homeless people don’t have feelings and aren’t to the quality they could be, with creased clothings and rough skin condition. Although it is hard to tell the individual’s ethinicity, it does correlate to the topic of how anyone can easily get into the circumstance where they are facing the loss of their home or have lost their home, all around the world. And with the issues with immigration, this is harder for them to get a home back as they are not being accommodated by the government of that country.
The logo for Shelter shows the audience how housing is what the company promotes and helps. The ‘h’ being the shape of a house instantly is recognised as a charities that helps homeless victims. Also with the logo being red like the main body of the advert, the red shows the negativity that the homeless victims have to face on a daily basis.
The target audience for these advertising posters are individuals with the age over 25 years old. At this age, majority of young adults either own their own property and pay rent for a property, where these issues related to homelessness relate to the person the most. People these age are most concerned about rent and payment as they cannot potentially be getting paid enough for all the rent and also extra possessions a typical 25 year old has. So this age group being in these advertising posters reachers out to the young adults more as they then think about how it could easily happen to them.
In conclusion, Shelter have made their adverts to make their public who read these posters understand the feelings that the victims of homelessness have to suffer and makes the public want to donate to help this cause.