Baby Seal Commercial Analysis

There is a way one person can make a difference in this seal’s life. This ad, created by Dawn dish soap, shows you how. The image includes a baby arctic seal, a bottle of Dawn dish soap and the word “SAVE”. The dashed line around the ad symbolizes a coupon, which equates to savings. The image of the baby seal represents innocence and pulls on your emotions. The bottle of Dawn represents clean. The audience this ad targets is all consumers that buy dish soap for home consumption. The simplicity of the ad allows it to reach many audiences, and not just people involved in wildlife rescue. The implications of this ad are to raise awareness of how human pollution, such as oil spills, truly affects the wildlife. When you pull it all together, the

Their primary source of nutrition comes from fish and marine species; however, the availability of food in the artic ocean has been greatly reduced due to predation. Although predation from other animals is a big threat for the seals, human predators are one of the biggest concerns. Litter and pollution caused by humans severely harms wildlife habitats. In fact, the Gulf oil spill of 2010 had a huge impact on the wildlife and their habitats in the area. Pelicans, dolphins and sea turtles not suffered immediately from the oil and sludge, these animals will have lingering effects on their population for many years. In the midst of the Gulf oil spill, Dawn released a planned promotion for its wildlife rescue efforts. According to Neff, “besides being timely, the wildlife effort, which the brand has promoted through a variety of TV, print, coupon and digital programs over the decades, is an almost perfect fit with brand equity.” Dawn is commitment to cleaning also became a commitment to saving wildlife affected by pollution. (insert citation

Dawn’s commitment to wildlife rescue prompted a promotional fundraiser just as the Gulf Coast oil spill happened. The ad pulls on your heartstrings by showing a cute baby seal with the words “SAVE”. According to Barthes, “the denoted image, to the extent to which it does not imply any code (the case with the advertising photograph), plays a special role in the general structure of the iconic message which we can begin to define.” (insert citation for Barthes – Rhetoric of the