Advertising Analysis Essay

There are many attributes that make an ad appealing to an audience.  In this advertisement sponsored by Purina and Red Rover the ad is championing the idea of removing one from domestic abuse with the opportunity to retain their pet on their mental health journey.

In order to raise awareness for victims of domestic abuse, the dog food company Purina utilizes the sanctity of the bond between humans and dogs to communicate a melancholy tone and trigger empathy from the viewer.  The ad stresses the importance of human-pet relationships, which is consistent with their brand, while simultaneously using this concept to advocate for a worthwhile cause.

This advertisement has many attention grabbing features. The statistic, “48% of domestic violence victims don’t leave because they can’t bring their pets.” (People Magazine, 10/5/2020) is in capitalized, bold, white font letters.  If that statistic wasn’t enough to grab your heartstrings, then there is a beautiful dog snuggled up to its owner demonstrating his protective stance. The purple overlay is there to convey a depressing but hopeful tone. The image is not in its natural state it has been manipulated.  The image has undergone many processes in order to increase its effectiveness.

It has been color tinted, text blocked, and photoshopped.  The photograph portrays a woman grasping onto her dog for support. The expression on her face tells a story of sadness and redemption, she will overcome. The layers of clothing on the woman and a scarf wrapped around her neck imply that she is potentially hiding evidence of physical abuse. In the bottom left corner there is a purple leash in the shape of a heart that signifies the “Purple Leash Project”, which is what the ad is about.  At the bottom of the advertisement there is a bright red label with Purina’s logo and slogan attached.  The audience for this ad is pet owners of any age. The message to the audience is clear, buy these products and this company will help prevent owners from being separated from their pets, in the event of domestic abuse.

Jib Fowles explores the ways advertisements work by exploring the emotional, subrational appeals that they incorporate and there are fifteen to choose from.  In this ad there is “the need to nurture,” an appeal that gets the reader’s attention with animals and causes them to feel sympathy for the victim being abused or losing a beloved pet. In addition to the nurture appeal this ad includes the “need to achieve.” When something happens such as domestic violence, people and animals need a system of support. The creator of this ad wanted to achieve a call to action with the need to achieve through a nurturing lens.  Purina, through this advertisement, is attempting to educate the general public on this initiative.  The company is reminding us that for some domestic abuse victims their pet may be their only source of unconditional love.

In American culture domestic violence is one of our dirty little secrets.  This advertisement has been placed in People Magazine with a readership of millions.  The ad is a call to action for the Purple Leash Project.  This project hopes to advocate for the allowance of pets in domestic violence shelters.  The target audience is supposed to react and go donate to the cause.  At a minimum, the general public is asked to support Purina and Red Rover because they are attempting to do good in the world.