Sample Media Answers

Sample Media Answers 1201Who is the target audience? Use two examples from the visual to support your answer.

For the WWF ad, the target audience or the audience that an advertisement is created specifically for would be people who hunt endangered species. This is evident in this visual because in the picture there is what appears to be a hunter aiming a gun a small child dressed as a tiger in the forest. A tiger is an endangered species so by having a child dressed as one it shows the cruelty of killing something that is innocent, like a child. That child will not get the chance to grow up and live, which is what these types of hunters are doing to the endangered animal population. Also, by using the text “Imagine this is yours” the advertisers are directly speaking to hunters, not hunters who kill for food, but hunters who kill for sport or money. WWF is making a plea to them to stop hunting species like tigers that are endangered. By asking the hunter to imagine the animal as their own child, it may make the hunters stop and think about what they are doing and recognize the long-term effects of their actions. There is no benefit to killing a small child, nor is there a benefit to wiping out an entire species. This ad is directed at hunters who kill endangered species.

Explain how the media strategy of shock appeal is used in this visual. Support your answer with two examples.

In the World Wild Life Ad the media strategy of shock appeal is used. Shock appeal is a technique where the advertiser presents images or text that can be both shocking and disturbing to the viewer with the intent of gaining their attention. In this ad the first example is the visual of the hunter aiming his gun at a small child dressed as a tiger. This is a shocking image because a normal person would not aim a shot gun at a small child. The fact that the child is dressed as a tiger is also effective because tigers are a known endangered species. By having the child in the costume, it shows the senseless cruelty of killing innocent creatures in the wild, creatures whose numbers are quickly diminishing. The second example of shock appeal is the text, “Imagine this is yours”. This is also shocking, as it makes the viewer question who would want their own child to be hunted in the forest by a hunter with a shot gun? This is a scary and disturbing thought. This will hopefully cause viewers to try and get involved to make changes as well influence hunters of endangered species to think about what they are doing. Shock appeal was used very effectively.