Analyse how the Water Aid charity advert uses its technical codes to provoke responses, emotions and connections with its target audience.
How are the people in Africa represented in the advert ?
What stereotypes and cliches of the charity advert genre does it avoid using ?
This advert is different to other charity adverts in the media as it makes people feel empathy but not in the same ways. Other adverts show poor people crying or living in poverty with dark colours and shadows to symbolise lack of hope, using black and white hues. They also show close-up shots of people's faces to frame the sadness clearer in their eyes, evidently creating pity for the audience as they want to help, feeling guilty.
On the other hand, this advert shows a girl singing which instantly creates an upbeat effect on the audience as she generally looks happy with life, which wouldn't normally be seen if someone doesn't have the daily necessities in life. The colours are quite bright with yellow tones on her face and in the background giving a warm feeling to engage the audience more. There are slight blue tones in lighting used in the background which gives the impression of sadness but very faintly which shows it is slowly leaving as happiness and hope is taking over. The background as she sings is blurred and hazy which diverts the focus to the girl even more.
The first scene shows a very close up shot of a window with rain dripping down it, most likely being seen as England as it is known for having bad weather. The window symbolises the house of the audience showing a flower pot and a radio which are the ideal items that you would see in a middle-class house, which the audience supposedly are. The radio looks fairly new and of good quality which shows it isn't a working class house, as they may not have the money to donate to this charity.
Whilst we watch the rain dripping down the window for a few seconds we hear the radio giving weather announcements, suddenly switching scenes to the very hot Africa which is sunny. This extreme contrast makes the audience wish they were in a hotter country but not seeing the real message behind it, then showing the struggle of the people even if they look happy.
The girl is in the centre of the screen using a mid-shot which shows she is an important part of the advert and no other people are in shot with her when she sings facing the camera. Her eyes do not look directly at the camera but slightly to the right of the screen. However, her body is facing the camera completely which indicates to the audience that she is signing directly to them and making them feel as if they are involved in her life.
While the advert focuses on her we can hear birds and wildlife in the background making the audience feel as if they are actually there with her, creating a connection with her. The camera also isn't very steady which makes the audience feel as if they are holding the camera and are experiencing this next to her, making the small help that the audience give even more crucial as it affects the audience too, not only the girl.
The advert then cuts to a close-up shot showing her emotions from very close in high definition which shows she is feeling quite happy now whilst she sings the song, with a strong feeling of hope.
The feeling of empathy for the audience therefore isn't as evident as there is a strong feeling of hope and warmth in the lighting and shots, but is still underlying to get the donations they need but in a more positive way. The advert mainly focuses on showing the positive effect the donations have had on this girl instead of showing the large amount of people that are suffering. During the close-up shots there is a glow from the sun shining directly onto her head which symbolises hope further.
The song the girl is singing from the 90's which had mainly a white middle-class audience. The advert uses this song effectively to draw a connection between the middle-class audience and the African girl which wouldn't have much in common. The advert does this as supposedly the middle-class audience will have the money to donate so they are the target audience which are trying to be drawn in and the advert is aimed at them, whereas other people wouln't have the money or wouldn't have the time to donate.
The girl is wearing school uniform while she walks to the well showing she now has an education. This makes the audience feel happy for her as she can get the basic necessities which normally many African people wouldn't have, showing what as little as £3 can do. This small part of the advert has a very subtle way of creating empathy fun the audience, instead of doing the basic things like showing a child crying.
There are crops and many plants which look like they have been watered, symbolising health and nutrition in not only the people but also the nature. This shot is seen straight after the rain on the window in what seems to be England, which would just be sighed at and thought as "just another rainy day which means I can't go out". This shows the importance of water in other countries even if we take it for granted and how it can change people's lives, broadcasting that without it there is no life. The audience then feel as if they should cherish it more and help the people in Africa as they do not appreciate it as much as they should, so they should give some to others.
There is a boy who is running around playing as if he doesn't have any worries on his mind. This positive representation shows the middle-class audience that the small help they give can really change peoples lives. Normally the children would be seem as starving and sad whilst looking directly at the camera, but this boy doesn't even seem to notice it as he is so busy playing.
There is a risk in this advert as the audience may feel that after they see so much hope in the advert that they may not need to help as they don't see any suffering, but the advert then states that '650 million people still don't have access to clean drinking water' which shows that there is a wide amount of people suffering but with this donation each person can slowly be helped.
The advert purposely gives a name to the girl in this advert as 'Claudia' to make us feel that she is important and has an identity now, instead of just being a poor girl in Africa. It makes the audience feel as if the small hope has changed her life so it can change many other people's too, even if the idea that there are so many people suffering can make people feel a little hopeless.
As the advert shows the number which should be texted to give the donation there is an image of fresh running water which shows a sign of hope for them, even if for us water is just a basic thing that we take for granted. The background is then again blurred diverting the focus to what is written. The writing is very important as it is the only part of the advert which directly tells the audience what the advert is about, as other donation adverts normally have people speaking over them and explaining what is happening. This advert however focuses more on the lives of people after the help instead of someone talking and explaining the grief they have.
The advert says to text "Sunny" to give the donation which is a positive word expressing signs of hope further as the sun correlates to happiness and health, linking what the audience saw earlier in the video. This is a great way of encouraging the audience to help more as they will feel as if no one is losing hope so they should be rewarded.
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