The Kairos of Emergency Preparedness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzilt-ntn3M

The advertisement placed above is an advertisement that aims to incentivize people to be prepared for natural disasters. As preparedness is about being ready for something before it happens, the entire advertisement is centered around the use of kairos.

The advertisement starts out by displaying text over a background scene of real natural disasters that says, “When is the right time…”. The first line used in the entire advertisement stresses the concept of time and directly addresses its relevance to the issue the organization that runs the advertisement is aiming to tackle. By introducing the concept of time with regard to when one should partake in action, it captures the audience’s attention. This is because viewers already have a general idea of whether or not they want to or should partake in different actions or initiatives. However, what people do not necessarily consider is at what moment in time they should partake in such actions or initiatives.

Also, the concept of time was reinforced at the middle to the end of the advertisement. When discussing when one should partake in being prepared for a natural disaster, the advertisement showed clips of different possibilities for when one could do so with the text “Now?” next to it. The first clip was during a flood, the second was during a tornado, the third was during a blizzard, and the fourth was during a casual conversation absent of any natural disaster. This instilled the idea in the reader that if one waits till a natural disaster occurs, it will probably be too late to create a plan for being prepared. Therefore, such use of kairos is effective in prompting urgency.

Additional to this, the advertisement uses heavy amounts of emotional appeal. Firstly, the melody of the music is somber and evokes a sympathizing response in the viewer. This helps prompt the viewer not only to pay attention but to take action. By appealing to the emotions of the viewer, the advertisement also makes itself more memorable. Secondly, the series of natural disasters attempt to put the viewer in the shoes of those experiencing a natural disaster. This is done in order to make the viewer to fear the possibility of a natural disaster enough to spark conversation with their family on how to be prepared when a natural disaster actually occurs. Thirdly, the depiction of specific items within the advertisement are meant to evoke sympathy and eventually, fear. In the beginning, the camera focuses on a washed up bunny and a photograph of a child in order to make the viewers realize that actual human beings were affected in these natural disasters. Such a strategy evokes sympathy and then, eventually, fear. As a result of this fear, they are more likely to pursue being prepared in the face of a natural disaster.

Both pathos and kairos were used as the primary drivers for inspiring the audience. All in all, it seemed to be as effective as possible. That being said, it is hard to incentivize people to take initiative and therefore, if it did make any progress, it was small progress.