Ad with Emotional Appeal: PETA Ad

(Image credit: http://great-ads.blogspot.my/
2013/07/peta-fur-has-no-happy-endings.html)

Type/Benefit of the ad

The above advertisement is a public service announcement (PSA) from People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) advocating animal's rights, or specifically, to raise awareness about the cruel act of using animals for fur.

Ad's appeal

The focal point of this ad is clearly the image of Winnie the Pooh, a prominent symbol of many people's childhoods all around the world. The image of this iconic Disney character covered in blood after presumably being skinned emits shock value, which appeals the audience to take a look at the ad and know more about the message being conveyed in the ad.

This ad uses the power of emotional appeal as it induces a reaction from people towards the gruesome looking picture and makes a connection between a real life situation with a cartoon character they have grown to know and love. It provokes people to consider that animals deserve the same kind of empathy as humans do.

What I like about the ad

The ad creates a powerful message and leaves something for all of us to ponder -- if we feel sympathy towards a cartoon animal facing cruelty, then why do we not feel the same about real, living, breathing animals? The message is also delivered effectively with a simple yet creative slogan: "Fur Has No Happy Endings" that aligns perfectly with the Disney theme in the ad.

Others

There are many types of emotional appeal that can be used in an ad, and this particular ad capitalises on the feeling of fear. Fear appeals focus on negative outcomes that may happen because of the consumers' action or inaction. In the case of this ad, the ad instills fear in the audience and promotes behaviour change in consumers that use products made of fur. Apart from that, an ad can be emotionally appealing through humour, which makes the viewers recall the ad easily as well as make them link the product with humour. The bandwagon concept is another type of emotional appeal as it focuses on the fear of being isolated. In an ad utilising this concept, one person would be shown to be left out as a result of not using a certain product while everyone else is doing so. 

(Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/top-five-appeals-advertisers-use-sell-product-31373.html)