If you see an animal being murdered right in front of your eyes, would you save it?
This visual shows that encounter, which is violent and urgent. During a very practical time of climate activism and animal rights, this image displays the importance and urgency of saving wildlife, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 13, Climate Action. This visual has a giant clock ticking down to a final minute that squeezes a seal, helplessly crying out. The caption reads “every 60 seconds a species dies out” to further compel the audience to act.
Such a visual would not have such a powerful effect if there were not an underlying establishment of trust, which can be rhetorically analyzed. In this scenario, the illustrators build upon the generally common knowledge of global warming to display the inevitable doom of wildlife. The German environmental agency that posted this image, “Bund, Friends of the Earth Germany,” aims to expose human laziness and compel its viewers, with its 30 years of climate activism. An instant emotional response urges viewers to help the seal and ease its pain. Even the subtle blood stain behind the minute hand of the giant clock can trigger a disgusted or nauseated response.
When applying this image to everyday life, a clear connection is made between global warming, the climate crisis everyone fights over. Politicians constantly argue over “solving global warming” or cancelling big CO2 producers in order to reverse the various atrocities that this visual exhibits.
Clearly, these organizations care very deeply over the importance of saving these animals, and the viewers’ response is expected to be the same. However, does this visual persuade viewers to help in the fight against a changing climate, or does it deter because of the level of violence displayed?
Thank you.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your rhetorical analysis of this advertisement. The power it holds visually is striking, and the idea of murdering animals is one that makes everyone feel uneasy. I would love to know more about the company that released this ad and what else they’re doing for the climate crisis.
I think that the heavy visual rhetoric in this ad is displaying a sense of urgency on the topic at hand. Seeing how disturbing this ad is grabs the audience’s attention and makes them reevaluate the seriousness of endangered species. I also would like to add their use of the clock to highlight how we as a climate are running out of time to help these species. I thought this was a very good analysis and I appreciated your outlook of the ad!
I think visual rhetoric is a really good way to invoke a reaction out of its viewers and your analysis of this piece reiterated that. For me, this ad got its message across and as an animal lover seeing this poor, helpless seal being killed makes me want to make changes. Animals are so important to the world and humans always take advantage of them, but we need to protect them because as more and more animals die out, the more the ecosystems go out of balance.
The visual rhetoric that is being used for this picture does a wonderful job getting a concerning reaction from the viewer, allowing them to think deeper about the message it is trying to convey. It is important that we save our environment and animals now since we are beginning to run out of time and are getting closer to the point of no return, which is exactly what the image is trying to warn us about. I would love to see more writing about the impact this picture had on the public and know more about the creator of the photo. Great work!
good job asking questions to get people to think. i like how you stood in front of the projector. made good points about the exigence of the issue, i think you could talk about this more.
Class pitch:
– Great introduction, convinces the audience they should care about the issue
– It was really impressive how you gave your pitch without any written notes
– For your full analysis, you could look more closely at how the artifact takes the rhetorical situation into account.
Your artifact and analysis truly hit home. It hits the reader right in the gut and your presence during the speech truly aided in the impact of what you were saying. The one comment I have is arrangement, you circled around a few times and I think a note card would really aid in the flow of the speech.
Class Pitch:
Conner, I really like this fascinating visual. The beginning of your pitch was very engaging, and I like how it proposed a question to the audience. I think that your delivery included several breaks in the speech, so maybe try having a more concrete plan as to what you will say.
Having a reference could help your pacing and the flow of your words. Your topic was very impactful and the start was very engaging.