In class Lab: Textual Analysis
1.
Who published
these ads?
The ads are published by different animal
rights groups such as PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals),
Freedom for animals, and Mercy for animals, and American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. These
are all humanitarian groups that fight cruelty to animals such as testing of
beauty products on animals, fashion designers using animal fur in clothing and
the treatment of animals in butchering from large grocery chains like Walmart.
2.
Who
are these texts intended for?
They are intended for all the
consumers. I believe they are intended
to educate consumers on where the products that they value so much are coming
from and who or what is being abused to get them. In these articles it is talking about cruel
animal treatments to provide consumers with their favorite products. I think a
lot of consumers are unaware or ignorant of how their favorite clothing styles
or beauty products are created. So these texts are there to make consumers aware
and hopefully help them change what they are using and fight for animal rights.
3.
How
can we tell that?
The slogans on the ads are a clear sign of
what the ads are trying to communicate. The very first ad is a picture of a famous
actor and a dog and the slogan says “If you wouldn’t wear your dog….please don’t
wear any fur” and then it has the PETA logo at the bottom of the ad, which is a
well know animal rights support group.
That makes it very obvious of what they are trying to say and who they
are trying to say it to.
4.
What
is the purpose of these texts? What are their creators wanting to change or
make happen?
They are trying to educate consumers on
what their most valued products are made of and how they are made, through cruel
treatment to animals. They want to show the general public that it is not made
without some kind of harm. They want to get people to start doing research on
what their products are made of and start using food that is organic from companies
that do not abuse the animals to get their food, fancy clothes or beauty
products. They would like the consumer
to start buying products that are not tested on animals.
5.
How do
they seem to be working toward that purpose? What beliefs and values do they
address?
The third ad, that says “do you support
cruelty to animals, Walmart does” has a website walmartcruelty.com on the ad. I
went to that website and the home page has a video of a bunch of men beating
pigs with large hammers, throwing things at them like pieces of the gates. It has
them in tiny, crammed up dirty pens where they can hardly move. I watched part of the video, I could not
watch it all the way through without getting nauseous and heartbroken. The video is hard to watch, but it is
necessary to show that to people who may be ignorant of how animals are treated
at butchering farms. I think they are using those videos to turn consumers away
from buying meat from places like that and encourage maybe spark emotions in
the consumers that will help the animal rights activists fight companies who
allow animals to be abused for this kind of use. The ad with the puppy carrying
a ball using the dog’s name and stating “I am waiting to love you” sparks emotion
in consumers with statements like that and the publishers (ASPCA) of that ad
are using that to encourage people to adopt animals instead of buying from
breeding farms and to educate consumers on laws and bills that need to be
passed or fought for fair treatment of animals.
6.
What
evidence from the texts (images, phrases, etc.) can you provide to support your
answers?
The first ad has an image of an attractive
famous actor that will immediately draw interest from some of his fan base and
makes the statement “If you wouldn’t wear your dog. Please don’t wear any fur”
which personalizes it for people who have their own animals. The second ad Shows
a picture of a model with animal fur on her head next to her really pretty,
well groomed hair and the comment on that one says “For luxuriant hair this is how
300,000 lab animals suffer each year” this educates consumers that the beauty
products they love are texted on animals and are harmful to animals, and that
they should use organic products that are not tested on animals. The third add
is of a pig behind bars with the slogan “do you support animal cruelty, Walmart
does” and then has a website that shows the animals being beaten. This educates us on the treatment of our food
at butcher farms. All of these are meant to get a reaction out of the consumer
about some of their favorite products.
7.
Can
you come up with a statement that would indicate what the ads do as a group?
The ads, as a group, are meant to educate,
without being sensitive to how they do it.
They are working to educate consumers on all the ways that cruelty to
animals is tied in with our favorite products. I believe they hope to get
consumers to switch products to ones that don’t test animals or mistreat and help
fight back against the companies that do.