"Wings" Advertisement Response

            Advertisement seven is one of multiple public service ads created to put an end to students informally using anti-gay insults. This ad attracts the viewer’s attention by having the bold, bright yellow words contrasting against the black and white background image. The sad, close up look on the girl’s face that is partially covered up by the colored words also catches the attention of whoever is seeing this. They staged the model to look depressed and hurt because they wanted to portray the emotions of someone who is affected by the hateful words people toss around so often and use her upset face and teary eyes to make people feel bad in a way for what they personally say. Her look not only catches a viewers’ eye but it also causes whoever sees it to have an emotional response that can cause them to consider how the words they use effect and hurt other people and hopefully lead to them evaluating their own vocabulary. As I explained, her facial expression shows deep sadness and pain to represent what happens when people are not thoughtful about what they say to others. The advertisement relates the effect of someone saying hateful words about a cheerleader being unintelligent to the harmful effects of people misusing the word “gay” nonchalantly in everyday conversation.

            To me, this ad is directed towards the range of people from middle-schoolers to high-schoolers. I came to this conclusion because the girl on the ad appears very young, cheerleaders are clearly associated with those ages, and the word gay is most often slandered by this younger generation. I do not believe it is very successful because the way the main statement is worded is hard to understand and I think the background picture could have had a stronger emotional appeal. I think if she was crying more dramatically or was showing more of a pained look as compared to a strong look I would have been more effected by it. Also, if the statement would have been more hurtful, as well as making it easier to read and understand, my emotions could have been swayed enough to make a real impact on me. Although the main contents of the advertisement did not get to me as much, the small message on the bottom that related the situation with the cheerleader to the use of the word gay was meaningful to me. I think the connection to a very strong and common stereotype was smart because it may show a point of view that many people do not see, and seeing from that view could help to make them realize the power their words have on people. This ad relies on the fact that the common cultural myth we all are guilty of believing is that cheerleaders are unintelligent and say the word “like” all the time. By knowing how common this idea is and how hurtful it is to people who are cheerleaders, the ad bridged it to the nonchalant use of the word “gay”.