Salvation Army Campaign Advertisement Analysis

More people need to address what’s behind the dress. Judgements are often made before any attempts to understand. The Salvation Army campaign in South Africa completed their goal in raising awareness of domestic violence. The end of February two-thousand and fifteen, the “Why is it so hard to see black and blue” ad was published (salvation army web). Within hours of being published the ad had sixteen million shares on social media (salvation army web). Presenting the model in the dress from What Color is The Dress meme is a effective approach when asking why is it so hard to see black and blue? The meme is based upon the audience’s judgement on whether they view the dress to be white and gold, or to be black and blue. Many times, domestic

It is a complicated situation. The dress is worn in this ad it from a meme called, WHAT COLOR IS THE DRESS. It can be viewed in multiple color schemes. Some of their viewers saw the dress to be white and with gold lace while others saw it to be black and with blue lace. Beau Lotto, a professor of neuroscience at the University College in London, researched why it was complicated for people to see this dress to decide what color it was (bbc). According to Lotto “the brain has evolved not to see absolutes, but to see the difference between things” (bbc). Colors appear differently depending on the lighting that they are present in. Our brain focuses on the relationship between colors, not the colors themselves (BBC). Lotto, speculated that the dress is viewed different depending on the view of the audience. Some may be looking at the differences between the colors of the dress itself, or some are focusing on the difference between the dress and the background (BBC). The lighting of the device you’re using plays a factor as well (BBC). Deciding the color of this dress can be complicated, like domestic violence when there are multiple

Depending on how this matter is viewed influences how people react. This is a logical way to show how there are different views of domestic violence and its victim’s. Logos is present in this persuasive ad. The Salvation Army attacked the presentation of this ad in a logical way. It is not logical to ignore domestic abuse, but it happens. One in six women will experience a domestic violent relationship (ad). This issue is often ignored and put aside depending on the view of the outsider. A outsider can view this issue as being the victim’s fault thinking that they can leave the relationship. It’s not that simple. In most cases, and cases I have personally come across the victim is not able to get away due to the fear of what would happen. Others may address the issue and attempt to help. Some may ignore it because they do not want to get involved. Using the dress from WHAT COLOR IS THE DRESS meme is a practical way to represent how complicated it is for people to view this issue. Depending on the viewpoint is how a person would react. The outsider’s view on a domestic situation is how they address the issue. If more people were aware of this issue and informed on how to address it the rate of one in six women dealing with this type of relationship may decrease. Audiences need to be more aware of domestic abuse and