Recruiting From Ethnic Minorities.

Coursework Assignment Part 2

Recruiting From Ethnic Minorities

This poster that we have been studying focuses on telling people about how racism has been banished from the army. Saatchi and Saatchi who have designed the poster have aimed it at black youths who are unsure about joining the army. It tells them how you will be well paid, well trained and well respected. There is some repetition in that phrase as it may possibly allow them to remember it more sufficiently; as they are three very important statements. The poster is mainly addressed at to other people his age, possibly more black than white people because he tells them that it is not a cowardly thing to do and that there is no racial harassment.

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On the poster it has a black youth pointing his index finger at the camera. Over his mouth it says “who are you calling a coconut?” In the bottom left hand corner is a paragraph of what the youth is saying and under that is the army’s slogan and the union Jack. The image seems very rough and the black youth is very close to the lens which again makes it harder to see it thoroughly. The language used in the poster is quite harsh and “hard hitting” for example, “I’m not a sell out, coconut, a choc-ice or an uncle Tom”. Also the language used is peer group language as he says he is not a choc-ice or an uncle Tom. These kinds of phrases are used by youths of that age as the judge you more and say what they think. You will not be a drop out from your group of friends.

The potential effect will consist of a wide range of ideas affecting different people, for example white people may not consider the poster to be appropriate for them where as other white people may find it a bit racist as that is how many black youths address each other. I feel the poster seems very effective as it has that slight racist side to it which may catch peoples eyes who take offence to that and also the heading in the center of the poster, “who are you calling a coconut?”. This is a good phrase for a poster as people may want to read more about what is on the poster and it is an eye catching phrase. It also address’s you, as though you called him a coconut. This is challenging language which may attract some of their attention. I also found the shear hardness of the poster quite effective too, as it goes well with the wording. As I looked at the poster I realised what a good effect it had on specifically focusing on afro-Caribbean youths, again because of the wording and the image. Weather the poster actually worked is another question. It may have attracted males that were worried about the racism factor. If it was a normal black youth who wasn’t really interested in the army then I don’t think it will have been as effective, as there is nothing extra to invite them to join the army. There may be no racism and a reasonable wage but it doesn’t tell them about what you do in the army and what it holds for the future as the other posters did.

By Jonathan Baylis