Shad, "Brother (Watching)"

In his song, “Brother (Watching)”, Shadrach Kabango (Shad K) explored how media-created stereotypes of Blacks impact career and life choices facing young Black Canadians (and Americans). He claims that these stereotypes are so ingrained into society, including into Blacks themselves, that many young Blacks and African-Canadians cannot see themselves becoming anything but the stereotypes. Rapping, basketball, and drugs are the narrow paths that too many young people envision their future taking.

Shad argues that by finding a personal passion in life, youths can break through stereotypes and societal expectations.

Considering his argument and how he composed it, it seemed clear that Shad’s target audience—the people he hoped to change and persuade—were the people who he saw as being in the same situation as himself: young, Black Canadians trying to find themselves amid bombardments of media stereotypes about what being “Black” means.

Shad hopes to persuade his audience to look past popular perceptions created by the media. Once they realize that they don’t have to conform to preconceived ideas of what a Black person should be like, they can become anything that they want to be. Ultimately, through this new form of activism—people perusing their dreams—the stereotypes and misleading expectations of Blacks will be thrown out. Black and non-Black members of society will see that race and background doesn’t dictate a person’s identity and future.

Shad built his credibility throughout the song with lines like “where I’m from”. He wanted to show the audience that during his life he has experienced what being Black is like. He’s someone who’s been there and experienced what he’s rapping about personally. Fans who know Shad’s background recognize him as even more credible in that he practices what he preaches. Shad earned a business degree from Wilfred Laurier University in Ontario and is currently working on a Masters degree at SFU, while still remaining one of Canada’s most popular hip hop artists. I think that he used this authority to give him the right to speak honestly about his chosen topic without risking offensiveness.

Shad described, at the beginning of the song, an image of young Blacks growing up surrounded by “white and affluent dudes” and expected to fit a prescribed mold of what a Black person should be like. This appealed to the emotions felt by his audience themselves. Then, at the end of the song, he gave a message of hope, describing “the new black activists”, who go after their dreams in spite of stereotypes. Several recordings of African parents talking about their hopes for their children’s futures are also played to arouse positive emotion.

Shad also explained how we are saturated with negative images and, over time, we start to become attracted to what we watch. If we only see Blacks “actin’ the fool” on TV then often we imagine that blacks are all meant to be that way. Because of the media, young Blacks find it difficult to imagine themselves going to college or starting a career because they’ve never seen it. Although his argument is attached strongly to emotions, it also makes sense that something needs to change.

Snickers

This commercial argues that Snickers is a very different candy bar. Aiming at young men who watch sports regularly, it hopes to influence their snack-buying habits. The next time this audience is faced with a snacking choice, whether at the vending machine, the grocery store check-out, or the gas station, they’ll remember the ad and choose the Snickers. A positive image of the brand will stick with them.

Patrick Ewing is a former NBA player who’s biggest claim to fame is being the recipient of a brutally famous dunk by Michael Jordan. Using Patrick gives Snickers authority with the audience, who take people more seriously if they know and understand great moments in sports history. Having Patrick dunk on a poor, unsuspecting young man shows that snickers really understands the story of their commercial’s star.

The audience, even though they respect Michael Jordan, must feel—or have felt at some point—a little empathy for Patrick Ewing. He got dunked on by Michael Jordan. There was really nothing he could do about it (he was up against the best basketball player ever). Now Patrick’s back, taking revenge on helpless Snickers eaters. It’s funny on many levels. Even if someone did’t get the history, it’s still an amusing ad. Hitting these emotions will hopefully open the audience’s hearts to the product.

This is not a “logical” commercial, but with two exceptions. One, it makes sense for Patrick Ewing to feel bitter about the Jordan dunk and possibly look for redemption. Two, the clever word play—turning Ewing into Chewing—is a pretty logical pun.

A shortfall in this commercial might be the lack of a clear call to action. What does the audience do after they’ve seen it? They will not buy a Snickers bar based solely on this commercial. However, Snickers are usually an impulse purchase and this commercial is set up perfectly for that. It is very effective at sticking in the audience’s minds. When they see Snickers on a store shelf, they will be more likely to pick it up.

With my roommates as a case study, I have seen this commercial’s long-lasting effect. Months after it played on ESPN, they still quote it around the apartment, on the basketball court, and replay it on Youtube occasionally. It keeps a clever, quirky, and unique perception of Snickers candy bars fresh in their minds.

WWF Print Ad: "Before it's too late"

In this ad the World Wildlife Federation argued that the earth is in peril. Trees are the “lungs” of the earth and damage done to the earth’s forests can be compared to smoking’s damage to human lungs.

WWF does not target a specific age group, although their choice of media maybe selected certain demographics (I found this ad through Google, not in its original magazine or newspaper). The ad zeroed in on a narrow psychographic: people who have a soft spot for the environment. They feel a little guilty for the damage being done to the earth, but haven’t yet turned their feelings into action.

WWF aimed to persuade individuals to take action to protect the earth. More specifically, to go to wwf.org and (hopefully, through not hinted at in this ad) make a donation or join a cause.

WWF’s advertising agency used several tactics to make their point. They used WWF’s well-known logo and name as an appeal to the credibility of the argument. The beautiful and realistic illustration also gave the ad more authority. The comparison to smoking (scientifically proven and well-accepted to destroy lungs) adds authority to their claim, too. The thought of the earth dying tugs at the heartstrings of the ad’s target and the deforestation’s contrast with the natural beauty of the landscape compels the reader to remember his or her experiences in the great outdoors. Also, thinking about “before it’s too late” saddens and even scares readers into action. Thinking about it logically, if a human loses its lungs it dies. Therefore, if the earth loses its forests (its “lungs”) it also dies. “Before it’s too late” also makes logical sense. Once forests are gone they’re gone.

Everything considered, the ad successfully made the target audience feel regret, fear, and a little bit of anger about the destruction of the forest. However, the solution—or a course of action for the target audience to take to prevent the “too late”—isn’t clear. I consider myself a part of this target. Though the ad appealed well to my emotions, I would not actually go to their website or get involved with their programs in the near future. The long term effect of the ad is more positive, however. By changing my point of view on deforestation into seeing trees as the lungs of the earth and by helping me remember my passion for the environment, I am slightly more likely to help environmental causes that come my way in the future.