Animal Cruelty

Animal cruelty is a very big problem in today’s society that is very often overlooked. This particular video that Sarah McLachlan did on animal cruelty for the BCSPCA and the picture of the elderly man in the hospital both are great examples of persuasion because they use elements of visual rhetoric. Visual rhetoric is the process of using persuasion through the use of logos, pathos, and ethos which can be conveyed by images or text, or a combination between the two, all used to persuade an audience. The commercial uses a lot of pathos through the use of images of animals in need. Seeing the animals in that condition sparks a lot of pathos in the audience. The music emphasizes the pathos too. The picture also uses pathos because there is an old man who is in critical condition because of smoking, and he is holding up a non-smoking sign. The commercial and the picture are great examples of visual rhetoric because they use examples of ethos, logos, and especially pathos to persuade the audience to stop smoking, or donate money for an animal in need.
Ethos is defined as showing a moral character and is also known as relating to ethics. It may be hard to single out examples of ethos in this commercial; however, there are plenty of them. The major example is that the commercial shows animals in a cruel condition, and it is against most humans’ ethics to commit any act of cruelty to animals. Some people think of their animals as just an object and feel that they can do whatever they please to their pets. However, in the United States this is considered a crime and can result in severe penalties, such as costly fines and time in jail depending on how severe the abuse is and in what state the abuse occurs. Throughout the entire video the viewer watches many different photos of injured or abandoned animals, which serves to appeal to the audience’s ethics.
The next component that both the commercial and the photo do a good job of displaying is by showing logos. Logos is defined as appealing to knowledge/reason, which they are able to accomplish in both. The biggest example of this is during the ad, in which statistics come up throughout the commercial that tell sad facts about animals that are mistreated. This results in people learning about what really is going on with animal abuse. It also gives them multiple reasons why they should be donating to the BCSPCA organization to help in the effort to save these helpless animals that are being abused every day. An example of logos in the photo is the fact that if a smoker sees what can happen as a result of his actions if he keeps smoking, simply be looking at the old man in bad condition.
Finally, the commercials’ greatest strengths is their ability to appeal to people’s pathos. If a commercial can bring emotion to the audience then it can be a very effective commercial. A commercial’s goal for a nonprofit organization is usually to get its viewers to donate money to them, and focusing on their emotion is a great way to accomplish this. The major ways that Sarah McLachlan’s commercial brings out emotion is through the decision of the photos and videos used, the music played, and even the tone of Sarah as she speaks. The photos and videos that are used are all different pictures of animals that all seem to either be sad or look as if they have been abused. This is a great idea by the producers of this ad because many people in the United States have at least one animal and can therefore feel a connection with these animals. The music played during this video also has a big impact on the viewer’s emotion because it is a very slow paced sad song that fits with the video very well. When Sarah McLachlan begins to speak she insures that she speaks with a very soft and caring voice. This makes the audience feel comfortable and open to what she has to say.
I feel that this video used emotion the majority of the time to get its point across for many reasons. It is understood that animals, although they are not humans, should be treated like humans and not just an item. People who feel that they can do what ever they want to their “pets” should not be owners of any animals and should be prosecuted if found guilty of animal abuse. My family has always had many animals including many horses, a few dogs, cats, and even others such as our goat. As time has gone on, we have tried our best to make these animals feel comfortable and live a long and healthy life. Whenever we encounter an animal that is in need we do what we can to help it if at all possible. A few years ago, my father ran across a horse that was being kept in a very dreadful living environment with no grass and a very scarce water supply. After much communication with the owner my dad finally convinced him to sell the horse to us. A few weeks later the horse’s spirits were up and he was looking much better than he had before.
Not everyone has the resources to tend to helpless animals in a hands on way, so I feel that this is another reason Sarah McLachlan’s video is persuading others to at least donate money that will go towards an animal in need. Persuasion is sometimes a tough act in life to succeed in, however, when there is a problem as horrific as this case with animal cruelty, then it is much easier to give to a charity. When this video first came out there was much talk between people saying that when ever it came on they would have to turn the channel because it was too sad to watch or even listen to. This shows that the producers did an excellent job of accomplishing their goal.
The next image is one of a man in a hospital bed holding a do not smoke sign. When I first found this photo it really meant a lot to me. When I was very young, my grandfather was an avid smoker and began to have very bad health. After years of smoking it had caught up to him and put him in the hospital. While in the hospital his heart actually stopped due to the smoking, however, the doctors were able to revive him. After this eye opening experience my grandfather was able to quit smoking after the doctors told him if he continued to smoke he would live half of a year at the most.
Overall, this picture exhibits a great power of persuasion to not smoke. It uses pathos and logos to help get its point across by relating to the viewers’ emotion and knowledge. This elderly man asked to have his picture taken like this before he died in hopes to help save other people’s lives by persuading them not to make the mistake that he did. If a smoker sees this photo and sees what the outcome could be then it should show them what could happen and help persuade them to stop smoking.
In conclusion visual rhetoric plays a huge role in any type of visual and in this case, in commercials. Without this, visual images would not be able to “communicate” with the viewers in the way that they are intended to. Sarah McLachlan’s video does a great job of using visual rhetoric to help strengthen the attempt by the BCSPCA to persuade its viewers to donate to their organization. At the same time the photo of the smoker also does an excellent job at showing a traumatic experience that a smoker could end up in if smoking is continued. As I stated earlier, it is a tough task to persuade an audience to change their minds or to perform a certain task but including ethos, logos, and pathos in your argument makes the power of persuasion a lot more effective.