The artifact that I have chosen for my civic artifact speech is the PSA, made by Moms Demand Action, showing the ridiculous notion that kinder eggs are banned for child safety where assault weapons are not. Moms Demand Action is an organization that has been advocating gun control laws for the safety of school children, most notably by releasing PSA’s that highlight some seemingly harmless products that have been banned for child safety over guns. At the surface level, the audience is the general public. The PSA highlights a policy in the United States that seems absurd, therefore all people in the US are considered the audience because this could affect them in some way. However, at a more analytical level, the audience of this PSA could be lawmakers due to the fact that they are the ones who introduced the ban on kinder eggs in the first place. The organization, Moms Demand Action, not only want the general public to see this but also lawmakers so that they see the consequences of their actions in the eyes of the organization. The audience will usually encounter this PSA through either their website, social media platforms such as Instagram or Twitter, and youtube commercials. The audience can interpret the information in many ways but the intent of this specific PSA is quite clear. They demand reform in US gun control laws and they accomplish this by showing a fault in the US policy making system to highlight the effect of guns on children. The audience will interpret the PSA as this organization wants gun control change for the safety of their children. Whether banning assault weapons is the best route for that is up to the audience to decide but it is clear that is what Moms Demand Action stand for.
The PSA proves civic because it calls attention to loopholes in gun laws in the US. Also, it calls upon citizens to take action to protect the children and the future of the United States from guns entering schools. As US citizens and as a country the protection of its citizens is one of the most important civic duties, and this PSA shows that without action the status quo is very dangerous to children. The type of action that the PSA wants citizens to take however is up to audience interpretation. The main ideology that is present within this PSA is that gun control laws will make students safer in schools. The context behind this are the school shootings that happen at the result of students handling assault rifles. The PSA calls upon some level of deductive reasoning which follows the lines of students use assault rifles during school shootings, school shootings kill students, therefore assault rifles kill students. That line of reasoning does, present some fallacies however the pathos involved in the PSA attempts to overshadow these fallacies rendering it an effective piece of rhetoric. This reasoning is why I have decided to use this PSA as my Civic Artifact Speech.
Great choice of artifact and good start to your rhetorical analysis. There is a lot of room for analyzing the visual rhetoric of image composition, and the various appeals employed to get the message across. Look forward to your talk!
I think the general message of your idea is great. With gun control being one of the most prominent 21st century issues, a PSA like this definitely can be defined as a civic artifact due to not only the nature of the photo itself but also the powerful message contained within the minuscule details. The elements of credibility and emotional appeal are all there; the solidified brand name in the bottom right, and the inflicted feeling of fear for children nationwide is a certainly effective way in proving a point.
The post was very well-written and very well-researched. This concept is very interesting because it begs the question, do lawmakers truly care about the safety of children? When one compares these two items, it is ridiculous to believe the kinder egg is the “more dangerous” item to lawmakers. Of course, there aren’t kinder egg lobbyists, so it shows how far money has infiltrated politics.
This is a great artifact! I liked how you analyzed the different audiences that this ad is trying to reach. Since gun control is a very controversial topic in today’s political atmosphere, there are many ways you could prove that this ad is civic.