Assignment 6: Photo AnalysisSelect any image from one of the following genres:
(a) Photojournalism
(b) Social documentary
(c) Commercial photography
Objective: To analyze the picture and list how the selected photograph might be read by the target audience.
Chosen Ad:
Tagline:
Adopt. You will receive more than you can ever give.
Canneslions 2007 Press Lions Winners Category - Bronze
Advertiser: Indian Association for the Promotion & Adoption of Child Welfare
Who are they? An non-profit organization concerned with the escalating issue of orphans and abandoned children in India.
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai.
Ad type: Public Awareness Messages
This ad campaign comes in a series with two other ads below:
Using Pierce's triadic model:
Sign vehicle refers to the form of the sign. Here, the sign vehicle is the hug.
Sense is the meaning made by the sign. From the hug, we can infer that there's a close relationship between the parties involved.
Referent is what the sign 'stands for'. In this image, a hug symbolizes love.
Iconic - The photo of 2 people in embrace resembles a hug, so it is an iconic sign.
Indexical - The embrace between the 2 subjects is affected by the proximity between the both of them, so it is a sign of proximity.
Symbolic - The embracing of two individuals symbolizes love in universal sense.
Signifier: Hug
Signified: Love
It is difficult to explain the distinctions between the two as the signifier and signified are almost identical in a photograph.
An embrace denotes the act of clasping tightly or fondly in the arms. An embrace means love, affection, adore, liking, care or even concern. In our cultural context, it connotes an amiable and intimate relationship between two individuals.
There are various types of tropes - metonymy, metaphor and synecdoche. This ad uses irony effectively to bring its message across.
From our shared experience and culture, we often perceive the adults as the ones responsible for showering love and concern over a child. This ad works effectively through irony as it stimulates us to think of adoption in a different light. Many may regard adoption as an extra financial burden, that requires lots of resources, time and commitment. Many often relate adoption to giving. However, this ad successfully propels the viewer to consider adoption as a reward; that foster parents can too receive love and a sense of belonging from the child. This key message is effectively brought across with a fitted tag-line to the image.
This ad aims to target affluent Indians working/residing in Mumbai, City of India. This target group is well-educated and influenced by Western media which explains why the subjects are dressed in Western clothing instead of the traditional Indian costumes; the target audience can easily relate to the ad.
One issue in contention is image v. reality. One might criticize that the kids portrayed are fairer-skinned, which I believe is of a Northern descent. They seem to be leaving out the darker-skinned Southern Indian kids.
Although portrayed bigger in size, it doesn't mean that child holds the power in the relationship. Rather, the kinesics prompts one to think that the adult is finding solace in the kid who's giving the adult inner strength and some sort of greater meaning to life.
The background colour chosen is not a bright and cheery one. This is apt as the issue of orphans and abandoned children is a negative one in India. However, because the organization wishes to portray its mission as a cause that provides these unfortunate children a sense of hope, there is a centered colour gradient that lights the subjects.
I enjoyed Paul and Meimei's presentation this week with their in-depth analysis of the ad. I appreciated their efforts in finding out what the various cards symbolize. I never knew there were different meanings to the various cards of hearts or spades and it was an eye-opener.
The ad also supported Las Vegas' campaign: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, extremely well. The affair between 'Queen' and 'Jack' exemplified the concept of how Vegas is a place of escape and secrets.
Ratings are as follows:
Analysis:48/50
Execution: 48/50
Paul & Meimei: 96/100
Analysis: 45/50
Execution: 42/50
Eileen & I: 87/100
Tagline: Adopt. You will receive more than you can ever give.
