"AIDS and Advertising"

This ad does not appeal to consumers at all. United Colors of Benniton is a clothing company, and the AIDS epidemic has nothing to do with clothes. I believe many consumers were turned off by this ad. As a whole I think the ad forces people to think about AIDS and completely forget about clothing. The consumers aren’t considering buying clothes anymore. Instead they will be realizing what a big issue AIDS is around the world. Most people’s initial reaction to those infected with AIDS is a negative one. We assume they must have made some very poor decisions sometime during their life, whether it to be infidelity, promiscuity, or drugs. Most of us do not consider that some people are born with AIDS or may have come in contact with someone who has been promiscuous or has done drugs. Furthermore, we do not stop to realize the devastating effect AIDS has on its victims, as well as those close to them, such as family and friends. This ad forces people not to think about the negative cause of AIDS but of the lasting effects it brings. The ad also makes consumers wonder how many people are affected by this disease and understand that it really is a global problem. I think the idea of the ad was to get people who support AIDS campaigns the buy the clothes because the producer of the clothes also supports AIDS campaigns. I think most consumers will see past the picture and realize the underlying message: buy United Colors of Benitton. In truth I believe the ad should be presented like this: BUY UNITED COLORS OF BENITTON (to support AIDS). The real point of the ad is to get the consumers to buy the product by making them think they are buying for a good cause and supporting a huge issue. It is an evil but extremely clever scheme. The ad definitely appeals to pathos. When looking at the ad, you can see the pain the family in the picture must be going through. The producer of the clothing wants its consumers to feel sorry for the people in the ad and feel obligated to help by supporting the AIDS campaign by buying their clothes. I do not think that this is a honest way to get people to buy clothing. The producer of the clothing is using a real problem just to make profit. Anyone who is looking hard enough at the ad can see the real underlying message. It is kind of like subliminal advertising without words. Some consumers can see what the ad is “saying” and some cannot. Clothes are completely forgotten as soon as your eyes look at the ad. People start to question the connection between clothes and AIDS and realize that there is not one. Overall, the ad does not appeal to consumers in the way the company may have wanted it to. The ad brings to light a controversial issue, AIDS, and suppresses a trivial one, clothing.