WaterAid Advert Essay

How is the UK presented in this advert?

Generally in advertisements regrading an inequality in resources such as water, the UK is usually presented as the stereotypical developed country where they are able to have access to the essentials such as food, water, a home and more. In this Water Aid advert, it begins with a close up shot of a window sill, the weather being rainy and damp which pinpoints the stereotype that the UK weather is always rainy. Contrastingly, the next shot is a scene of a girl walking on a dry pathway somewhere in Africa, holding a large bucket which the audience can immediately depict that she is travelling to get a bucket of water; the weather is seen as humid and dry which highlights that it is unusual for it to be raining in Africa. Moreover, in the first clip you can see that the rain is disregarded by everyone and that everyone stays inside which further suggests that the iconography of rain and water in the UK is not that precious unlike in Africa where children have to walk miles in order to get just a bucket of water. This shows that the UK is the binary opposite of Africa.

Who are the target audience? How can you tell?

The main target audience are middle and upper class people who live in the UK; this is because the advert wants to gain empathy and pity from those who have more to offer to Africa so they are able to donate. In addition, the song that the little girl is singing in the advert is a song that was released in 2004 which indicates that the advertisers main audience are directed to middle aged adults as they will know what song she is singing and immediately get the reference making them feel more connected to the main character, Claudia. By the advert making the audience feel more connected this gives them a higher chance for them to be donating to the charity. Furthermore, not only would the audience feel pity for the people in Africa, but they will also feel a lot of guilt as knowing that they do not have to worry about basic essentials like water while people in other continents have to travel long periods of times for it makes them want to help out.

How is the landscape of Africa presented in the advert?

This advert feeds into the stereotype that the majority of Africa is parched and hot as it clearly shows contrasts of the blue and cold lighting of the UK scene to the scene where Claudia is walking where the lighting automatically switches to an orange and warm lighting which exaggerates how humid Africa really is. At the beginning of Claudia's entrance, the lighting is greyer than usual and the way that she is humming and then singing is sang in a quiet volume which portrays that she is almost exhausted of the way she lives; however, we begin to see more vibrant colours as we progress through the advertisement alongside a high volume with many more voices joining Claudia as they have reached the water tap of the village which indicates that even though that they do not have much they are still very grateful for the small amount that they are able to receive. To add, it is almost as if the collective sounds of their voices are hope that is pushing through the moment of despair which is them having to collect dirty water. The sounds that are being presented in Africa is also significant as there is a contrast from the UK and Africa. They start of the advert with sounds of rain pouring down followed by the radio saying heavy rainfall" which then gradually fades to the soft warm sound of crickets and dust in Africa which furtherer depicts the dry weather. Moreover, the advert starts with the iconography of water and also ends with water making it look more valuable and significant as the light shines through it. 

What is the central message of the advert follow or subvert the convections of the charity advert genre?

The central message of the advert is to persuade the middle/upper class middle aged UK citizens to donate to the WaterAid charity. At the very end of the advertisement, they have included a statistic of "650 million still don't have access to clean water" which contrasts to the hopeful picture that is shown as a background behind the statistic. This could be portrayed negatively as the audience may assume that seeing the photo would mean that the people in Africa are not struggling as much as they say they are which lowers the chance of them donating. However, the reason the advertisers could of portrayed it in a different way than usual and subvert it can be to show the audience that their donations actually do help support the lives of children and adults in Africa which would encourage the audience to donate more to the WaterAid charity.