https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBuC_0-d-9Y
-"F**k the poor?", a controversial advertisement by Pilion Trust
There is a controversial advertisement created by The Pilion Trust, a British charity which helps the poorest and most vulnerable. It is so controversial that part of its name has been filtered by Google.
The advertisement can be divided into two parts. In the first part a man carried a sign on the street of London. On the sign, considerably impolite insult to poor people was shown, while the man simultaneously sent out leaflets with the same words on it. As you can imagine, most of people were unanimously irritated and even arguing with the man. However, in the second part, another day the same man standing on the same place carried a sign with “help the poor” on it and asked for donation. This time, he was completely inundated in the crowd.
In this idea-oriented advertisement, the advertiser uses the technique of contrast to highlight and promote their ideas. Just as they said, people care about the poor, but their care is far from enough. Many of people are willing to verbally defend the poor when they are insulted, but few of people are willing to give a tangible help in action to the poor. By using the mirror effect to veritably reflecting public reaction (Ramage,2012) towards two different situations to do with the poor , the advertiser reveals that speaking is much easier than doing when it comes to caring and helping those in need, and appeals to more virtual concerns and help to the poor from public. According to the survey done by Dennis Ryan(n.d.), 56.8% people who watched the advertisement felt guilty, proving the effectivity of the advertisement.
However, controversies are more than the rude remarks on sign. The charity admitted that those reactors on the street were secretly filmed (Cockneyreject,2014), which may leads to a ethics issue concerning their privacy and image.
Moreover, the obscure indication behind the reaction of people is both helpful to protrude the contrast and controversial to disclose. Because the contrast can be interpreted into different ways. Does it mean that those who defend the poor verbally rather than donate money are selfish, stingy and even hypocritical? In addition, due to the contrast the behavior of defending the poor seems to be devalued. But in all likelihood, those were defending for equality, the equality among different groups. If the advertiser changed the word of “poor” into another group, such as “negro” or “gay”, there will still be people who defending them. Therefore, those defenders are not to blame. But of course, their behavior is not enough, just as the advertisement told us.
Reference:
Ramage, A. F. (2010). Ramage et al. Retrieve from http://www.hurl-e.com/_pdfs/Hurl-e_US_Patent_No_7686791.PDF
Ryan, D. (n.d.). Have You Seen The Poor People Video That Everyone Is Talking About?. Retrieve from http://www.askmen.com/news/power_money/pillion-trust-poverty-ad.html
Cockneyreject. (2014). Fuck the poor?. Retrieved from http://piliontrust.com/2014/04/07/fuck-the-poor/#
ZENG Zilu (Luna)
SID:54017720
-"F**k the poor?", a controversial advertisement by Pilion Trust
There is a controversial advertisement created by The Pilion Trust, a British charity which helps the poorest and most vulnerable. It is so controversial that part of its name has been filtered by Google.
The advertisement can be divided into two parts. In the first part a man carried a sign on the street of London. On the sign, considerably impolite insult to poor people was shown, while the man simultaneously sent out leaflets with the same words on it. As you can imagine, most of people were unanimously irritated and even arguing with the man. However, in the second part, another day the same man standing on the same place carried a sign with “help the poor” on it and asked for donation. This time, he was completely inundated in the crowd.
In this idea-oriented advertisement, the advertiser uses the technique of contrast to highlight and promote their ideas. Just as they said, people care about the poor, but their care is far from enough. Many of people are willing to verbally defend the poor when they are insulted, but few of people are willing to give a tangible help in action to the poor. By using the mirror effect to veritably reflecting public reaction (Ramage,2012) towards two different situations to do with the poor , the advertiser reveals that speaking is much easier than doing when it comes to caring and helping those in need, and appeals to more virtual concerns and help to the poor from public. According to the survey done by Dennis Ryan(n.d.), 56.8% people who watched the advertisement felt guilty, proving the effectivity of the advertisement.
However, controversies are more than the rude remarks on sign. The charity admitted that those reactors on the street were secretly filmed (Cockneyreject,2014), which may leads to a ethics issue concerning their privacy and image.
Moreover, the obscure indication behind the reaction of people is both helpful to protrude the contrast and controversial to disclose. Because the contrast can be interpreted into different ways. Does it mean that those who defend the poor verbally rather than donate money are selfish, stingy and even hypocritical? In addition, due to the contrast the behavior of defending the poor seems to be devalued. But in all likelihood, those were defending for equality, the equality among different groups. If the advertiser changed the word of “poor” into another group, such as “negro” or “gay”, there will still be people who defending them. Therefore, those defenders are not to blame. But of course, their behavior is not enough, just as the advertisement told us.
Reference:
Ramage, A. F. (2010). Ramage et al. Retrieve from http://www.hurl-e.com/_pdfs/Hurl-e_US_Patent_No_7686791.PDF
Ryan, D. (n.d.). Have You Seen The Poor People Video That Everyone Is Talking About?. Retrieve from http://www.askmen.com/news/power_money/pillion-trust-poverty-ad.html
Cockneyreject. (2014). Fuck the poor?. Retrieved from http://piliontrust.com/2014/04/07/fuck-the-poor/#
ZENG Zilu (Luna)
SID:54017720