The front cover also includes the slogan ’Will you be responsible this year?’ This is a rhetorical question asked to make the audiences think about what could happen if they drink and drive.
In the centre of the leaflet the layout is once again simple as there are lots of images to attract the reader’s attention and there are short simple paragraphs. The short paragraphs make it easy for the audience to read the leaflet because they only have to read short portions of text at a time; this encourages the reader to read the whole of the leaflet.
There is a silhouette image that represents a crowd of people with no faces, this shows that anybody can drink drive. This makes the audience once again think about their actions.
On the back of the leaflet it has a simple slogan ‘Have none for the road.’ This contradicts the saying ’Have one for the road.’ Showing Zero tolerance towards drink driving instructing the audience not to drink and drive. This slogan will also have a lasting effect on the audience because it will be the last piece of text they see on the leaflet so they will remember it easily.
The leaflet is kept simple with simple colour schemes this is used to keep attention on the written text and the other information that is presented in this leaflet. The colour scheme uses red, black and white, these colours are used to keep the leaflet simple and red is suggesting the element of death being the colour of blood.
The television advert is called ‘The Long Weekend’ and was made by the police to show what can happen to a ‘Family Man’ such as ‘Steve Taylor’ if he commits drink driving. The target audience is again as in the leaflet seventeen and upwards because people from seventeen and upwards can have a chance to drink and drive, but perhaps in the television advert more than the leaflet, this advert is made for middle aged people focusing on men in particular because the main character is male, the character ‘Steve Taylor’ is a father and this is why it is made for middle aged audiences because they would be parents and if they were to drink and drive this would be the position they would be in.
The story is of a middle aged man ‘Steve Taylor’ who is caught drink driving. Through the advert he explains his life to the audience, he explains the consequences of drink driving on his life, he tells the audience what will happen to him if he is found guilty e.g. loses his job, loses his licence. He goes though different moods through the advert, depression, desperation, optimism, aggression, frustration, sarcasm. He goes through these moods to show the audience what he is going through in his head. The character ‘Steve Taylor’ interacts with the audience to let them relate with him, He actually ask the audience questions and ask them to raise there hands if they have done any crime in the past, He also talks directly to the audience throughout the advert
Because the audience are the only people he can talk to increasing the feeling of loneliness towards ’Steve’ from the audience. They can relate to him because he has a normal life and family this will be what many of the middle age audience will have themselves. Humour is used in the advert to keep the audiences’ attention, the humour is used when ‘Steve’ is in a sarcastic mood and when he acts out a scene involving his wife his wife finding out from a police officer that ‘Steve’ has been arrested for drink driving. ‘Steve’ plays the police officer in a stereotypical way using humour to draw attention from the audience. ‘Steve’ plays the officer in this way because this is what comes to mind when many people think of police officers.
Camera angles are used in his part of the advert, ’Steve’ in a close up and walks in and out of the shot to give the perspective of ‘Steve’s’ wife. Camera angles are used to effect in the whole advert with most of the advert being shot at medium shot. This gives the audience the feeling of being in the cell with ’Steve Taylor’ and going through what he is going through. Close-ups are used on him when he is in calmer moods, Moods at sadness and depression to capture his facial expressions.
Music is used in a part of the advert when ’Steve’ is asleep and he is going through his head what had happened on the night. The music is played at a high tempo and volume to show to the audience how hectic the night was. This helps builds atmosphere as it shows that nigh was hectic and everything went by so fast and anything could have happened.
Voiceovers are used in this part as well to put the audience in the place of ‘Steve Taylor’ to let them know what he was hearing on the night of the crash. His friends are talking to him in the background persuading him to drive his car even though he is intoxicated. This also shows to the audience how easy it is for a person to drink and drive.
Voiceovers are also used later on in the advert as his conscience, acting as his neighbours, speak to him telling him what wrong he has done, ’Steve’ responds to this by telling them ”Shut up!” twice.
The location through most of the advert is constant, the character is in a cell, this is used to give the audience the effect of being in the cell with ’Steve’ for the ’The Long Weekend’. The one window is used to give the effect of being trapped in one place for a long time, this frightening to the audience to be trapped and will make them think about their actions on drink driving.
Through the advert ’Steve’ avoids a certain part of the accident in various parts, but as the advert progresses he begins to reveal more and on the final scene he reveals what fully happened in the accident. Voiceovers are used again to play the part of his friends he is driving home and sound effects are used to play the
Part of the cars and the crash, ’Steve’ talks through what was going through his head in the accident. The audience hear the already known story that ’Steve’ had told them but their is a twist at the end that shocks the audience, all sound stops and ’Steve’ reveals that as a result of the accident he has killed an innocent child. He tells the audience that his sentence is temporary, but the death of the child will lay on his guilt conscience forever. The adverts blacks out and it is over, this leaves the audience shocked, again leads to the audience to think about their actions. The whole advert shows that drink driving can happen to anyone, and can ruin the life of a ’family man’ forever. It is all about stopping people from drink driving.
There are many similarities in the two adverts, they are about the same subject, they have the same target audiences, the television advert uses ‘Steve Taylor’ to show that drink driving can happen to anyone.
The advert effects the audience more than the leaflet because of the shock factor at the end and throughout and the advert, the main characters is used to relate the audience and show what can happen to someone through feelings and thoughts. The leaflet informs the audience and is effective at grabbing the attention of the audience on the front cover.
Both adverts are effective at informing the audience and making them think about their actions on drink driving.
By Daniel Walsh
