Advert Analysation

Advert 1

“Would you stop yourself?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzDr18UYO18&t=3s

The “Would you stop yourself?” advertisement was created by a London based advertisement agency called Y&R on behalf of the Home Office which is a government department who “keep citizens safe and the country secure”. From 2010 to 2014, the home office ran a campaign called “This is Abuse” aimed to influence teenagers to “rethink their views on violence, abuse, controlling behaviour and what consent in a relationship means to them” for which this advertisement was created for. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office#content).

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/this-is-abuse-campaign

The advertisement shows a young couple in the girl’s bedroom watching TV, the boyfriend then suggests “having some fun before her parent’s get home” which swiftly changes the dynamic between the two as she gets uncomfortable and repeatedly rejects the offer. The boy then becomes more aggressive towards her by throwing her phone and he then grabs his girlfriend by the hair which forces her to meet his demand. Another frame shows the boy watching as if he is stuck in the mirror from an outsider's perspective, from this stand point he is franticly banging on the glass begging himself to stop his behaviour.

The advertisement is set up in a very generic young girl’s bedroom that is relatable to girls between 13 and 18 who are the main target audience. Props such as flowers and pictures of friends have been used to decorate the room, but they have cleverly added objects such as teddy bears which could have been used to remind of us of the girl’s innocence, which adds to the effect of the advert. The conversation begins with light hearted teenage banter that could attract the attention of teenage viewers, but when the topic quickly changes to a more sexual manor it becomes very uncomfortable but keeps your attention.

I think that this advert would spark rage in anyone who watches it. When the boyfriend starts getting aggressive, you can feel how powerless the girl is and how toxic that situation is, as a viewer you almost feel helpless and want to stop it from happening.

This advertisement is successful because of how cleverly it’s done. Going back and forth to the boyfriend seeing himself from an outside perspective really emphasises the story and the point the company are trying to get across. The intention of this advert is to raise awareness on mental and physical abuse, and the main goal is for someone who behaves like the boyfriend in real life to think twice in similar circumstances. This campaign did another advert that was practically identical, only this time with the girl behind the glass watching from an outsider's perspective recognizing the abuse that she’s taking. The opposite advert would help young girls identify abuse even in the most convincing and subliminal ways.

In my opinion, this is a well-executed advert that gets straight to the point and makes you feel emotions while watching. The message it’s sending across is powerful and the visuals would help many people in similar situations. I remember seeing this advert around the time it came out, and having not seeing it for many years I still remembered the message and the scenes behind the glass, which proves that this was a memorable advert.

Advert 2 -