Você está na página 1de 6

An Effective Appeal

By: Lauren Pease


Save the puppies and forget the children: How do organizations convince people
which charities will receive their financial support?
Pick up any newspaper, turn on any television or radio and prepare to be
bombarded with limitless lists of cruelties that assault your senses while countless
organizations beg for your last dollar to end the suffering. In its 2008 television
campaign, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) hit
the contribution jackpot with the enormously successful commercial campaign featuring
Sarah McLachlan. This ad alone has raised millions of dollars to save abused animals
while children worldwide starve to death (Strom, 2008). Why does the ASPCAs
televised appeal spark hundreds of thousands of people to dig into their wallets to donate
money to save abused animals while they ignore the similar plight of starving children
around the world? In the ASPCAs advertisement, Sarah McLachlan, a Canadian
musician, provides the voice for the depressing series of visuals. These brief video clips
show animal after animal encaged, sad, and abused. In addition to the upsetting visuals,
shocking statements appear on the screen saying things like, Every hour an animal is
beaten or abused. The depressing graphics of abused animals communicate to the
audience the need for them to take action to deal with animal cruelty. The ad quickly
provides an easy way for viewers to take immediate action, which many simply cannot
resist.

This is one of the many visuals of encaged animals that appear in the Sarah McLachlan
ASPCA commercial that was initially aired in 2008.
Animal cruelty was a huge problem in 2008, as information about the Michael
Vick case was by then widespread. In 2007 NFL football star, Michael Vick and two of
his friends were regularly hosting dog fights via their Bad Newz Kennels operation.
The three men forced the pit bulls to fight one another, and the losing dog either died in
the pit or was executed by drowning, breaking its neck, or electrocution. Eventually the
police discovered the animal cruelty; however, at least eight pit bulls had already been
killed (Animal Legal Defense Fund, 2011). Because of Vicks fame, this case was
prevalent, making it an excellent time for the ASPCA to air their persuasive ad. Whether
people hear about them or not, there are many other lesser-known cases of animal abuse
occurring daily which makes the need for an ASPCA commercial so strong. This
advertisement was extremely necessary given that during the long stretch of economic
hardship, less people were donating to charities in general. The need for an effective

advertisement was greater than ever, especially since many felt that the contributions
should be sent to organizations that address more pressing societal issues. While few
people want to see innocent animals abused, donations to this cause limit the amount of
money available to address the laundry list of other societal atrocities present around the
world.
The ASPCA is a privately funded, non-profit organization that was founded to
help protect animals that are facing cruelty in order to provide them with kind and
respectful treatment (ASPCA website). Like many charitable organizations, the ASPCA
was facing limited contributions partially as a result of the worldwide economic
downturn. At first, it was only able to afford advertisements in odd hours of the morning,
which were not particularly helpful to increasing the companys donations. After coming
into contact with Sarah McLachlan by accident because of her relationship with her own
local animal shelter, the ASPCA gained considerable donations and was able to feature
her in their campaign. This celebrity contact was highly beneficial to the organization,
which had been greatly struggling and was in desperate need of a powerful advertisement
to attract supporters and attention. The advertisement has proven widely successful,
raising over $30 million dollars in donations and attracting over 200,000 new donors as
of 2008 (Strom, 2008).
What makes this ad so much more effective than the numerous other ads that ask
for contributions? A number of charities air commercials in attempts to raise donations to
prevent tragedies such as child abuse, childhood starvation, as well as other issues facing
human victims with much less success. Although humans are hard-wired to react with
empathy toward small, fluffy, large eyed creatures, this does not explain why the

McLachlan appeal is so much more effective than the UNICEF commercials seeking
donations to combat child hunger (UNICEF website).
First and foremost, this advertisement appeals to pathos because it heavily relies
upon the large, sad eyes of the abused animals to elicit sympathy from the audience. The
images and video clips of the sad and encaged cats and dogs could literally bring many
viewers to tears. The ASPCA, of course, sincerely hopes that it does. At the end of the
commercial McLachlan asks the audience, Will you be an angel for a helpless animal?
This greatly plays on the audiences emotions because they are either in or near tears,
have just heard the song lyrics to Angel, and have seen numerous sad cats and dogs,
making them unlikely to be in a solid emotional state. From there, McLachlan informs
them that the animals will be given a second chance thanks to you. Throughout all of
this, the viewers sense of self worth allows them to believe that they are, in fact,
powerful enough to correct the situation. This makes them willing to register to give $18
per month, which they are told will rescue animals from their abusers. It is interesting
that this advertisement is so successful because it highly lacks logical appeal. Viewers
believe that they are directly saving these abused animals from the cruelty they are
facing; however, no statistical evidence is presented showing that contributions have
actually made a difference in the number of abused animals. This further demonstrates
how impactful the pathetic appeal really is in this advertisement. People are so moved by
their emotions and their sense of self-satisfaction that even without statistics, the
organization has gained over 200,000 new donors.
The McLachlan advertisement also makes an ethos appeal that is closely tied to
the pathos appeal. Featuring a celebrity on a campaign has been shown to increase an

organizations donations by 1.4 percent (National Public Radio, 2014). Here Sarah
McLachlans voice and song add credibility to the advertisement, especially given that
McLachlan was already involved in fighting animal cruelty before she partnered with the
ASPCA. Seeing a celebrity involved with an organization tends to cause the bandwagon
effect to occur which makes people much more likely to also become involved with that
organization.
As previously noted, there exists a strong commonplace that animal abuse is
unjust, and there are numerous laws criminalizing animal cruelty. This advertisement
combines this underlying societal value with the other rhetorical devices in a way that
successfully sparks consumer action in the form of monetary donations.

References
"About the ASPCA." ASPCA. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
<https://www.aspca.org/about-us/about-the-aspca>.
"Alyssa Milano." UNICEF USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/celebrities/ambassadors/alyssa-milano>.
"Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick." Animal Legal Defense Fund Animal
Fighting Case Study Michael Vick Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
<http://aldf.org/resources/laws-cases/animal-fighting-case-study-michaelvick/>.
"Sarah McLachlan SPCA Commercial." YouTube. YouTube, 2008. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ>.
Smith, Roff. "The Ice Bucket Challenge And Other Good Causes: Do Stars Really Help?"
NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/08/20/340352070/the-icebucket-challenge-and-other-good-causes-do-stars-really-help>.
Strom, Stephanie. "Ad Featuring Singer Proves Bonanza for the A.S.P.C.A." The New
York Times. The New York Times, 25 Dec. 2008. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/us/26charity.html>.

Você também pode gostar