Kairos and Gun Violence in America
https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/moms_demand_action_for_gun_sense_in_america_dodgeball
https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/moms_demand_action_for_gun_sense_in_america_kinder_egg
Kinder eggs, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, and dodgeball all have something in common: at one point or another they’ve been ban from American schools because of the supposed threat they have on child safety. These 3 ads, all created by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA), are all a part of one of the many gun violence campaigns in America throughout the last 5 years. MDA begun their campaign in 2013 when it was reported that the US lost 30 people per day to gun violence (2). Still, to this day, America faces huge challenges with gun control, gun violence, and public and school shootings. Now, seeing as these issues have practically elevated since then, 96 Americans per day are killed with guns, and many are injured (1). Obviously, gun control is an extremely relevant political topic. MDA uses Kairos in their ad as they press gun control urgency in their message. As the two children pose, one holding what everyone thinks to be something innocent (i.e. a dodgeball), the other with an assault weapon, it represents a sense of emotional appeal as well. The children are young, innocent, and one of them is holding something deadly. This only adds to the Kairos appeal more. People looking at these ads are likely to feel a sense of perseverance to change the way they look at assault weapons. The caption at the bottom of each ad especially contributes to pathos as they read: “We ban the game dodgeball because it’s viewed as being too violent. Why not assault weapons?”, “We keep ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ out of schools because of the bottle of wine in her basket. Why not assault weapons?”, and “We won’t sell Kinder chocolate eggs in the interest of child safety. Why not assault weapons?”. All 3 ads target gun violence and relate it to school shootings. The question left at the bottom also depicts urgency and push the audience to do something to stop these violent actions from happening again. The ad is extremely effective in pushing its audience to think about the amount of school shootings we hear about on the news as well as the daily shootings that happen in America and take a plan of action to do something to change it.
I absolutely loved your choice of artifact. I thought it was so interesting and really had an emotional effect on me. Your analysis was really good and touched right on the urgency of gun violence, especially in our country now with all of the school and public shootings.