The child is in a public toilet, a very grotty, dirty and unpleasant environment, which makes it ironic when a clean, healthy baby is placed in the area. Dark, dull colours are used outside of the child, dirty terracotta tiles, dirty, grey walls, yet a white nappy and pale child. This again brings the baby into view. The age of the child is told as an age much older then the child obviously is, which emphasises that a poor upbringing will lead to inevitable poverty, and makes the shock tactics even more adamant.
The next image I will concentrate on is Martin Ward, who is illustrated as aged 29 years old. The ultimate message of the advert is to show the consequences if no donations are made. The message is very well put forward using a large number of advertising techniques. Martin Ward, clearly a child, is wearing very bright, innocents, immature clothing. A yellow shirt, long shorts and sandals, clearly a well look after, well nurtured child. His clothing is made even brighter by a light focused on him which we recognise from the reflection from the head. Looking more closely at the photo, you can see that this image represents the child’s life, with a lady in a pram below, and the school below. Again, like with the heroin baby, many objects within the photo are pointing toward the child. The apartment blocks, the railing he is standing on and the roads below. Creating this effect means the photo is taken at a funny angle, an angle which enhances the effect of him leaning over the edge. The leaning effect means the audience want to stop him, particularly women and maternal instincts, want to reach out and stop the child from falling. Another irony is the playground below; the ring which is meant for playing on is a sort of target, a landing zone for Martin, creating a shock effect without any explanation. Looking even closer at the child, you can clearly see the sandal of the child sinking into the railing, a problem which could easily have been solved by computer imaging and enhancement. However I believe that this fault was left then purposely to remind the audience that it is fake and that the boy is not really there.
In these stages, there is a lot more explaining going on, with the baby bringing up the veins with a belt, holding the syringe and needle. Martin ward is leaning over, and the story is very much explained to the audience. However, in the next set of adverts from 2003, there is much less explanation, and far more shocking images than in the last campaign.
In the first image of the series, a newborn child is features with a cockroach crawling out of its mouth. Yet it is laying on a comfortable, peach coloured, calming sheet, with a pastel, unobtrusive light shining on it. It illustrates the poverty that some children are brought up in, and the horrible conditions they have to deal with. These images were on billboards, in newspapers filling up entire A2 sides, in magazines and on television. They brought a huge response, and only needing a complaint from 14 people would immediately force an investigation into the adverts. There is far less explaining in this image and the next, there is no real need for it.
The child is pictured upside down, taking our attention away from its eyes, which are our instinctive points of focus. With the eyes clenched shut we can tell the child is in pain. Yet it has been cared for, with comfortable bedding it has been nurtured. The shock tactics are even more severe than before.
The following image was never published, but I believe is the most interesting.
Again upside down we are no instinctively focusing on the eyes, and so has less impact. Yet subtly relates back to the first campaign, with the spoon in the heroin baby, the first advert I analysed. If the baby were to be the other way round, like so, the audience would concentrate on the eyes, and not the spoon or the text, making the spoon less significant, so defeating the object.
The lighting is warm, optimistic and is taken with a soft focus lens, whereas as most of the others in the campaign, like the photo on the right are taken under industrial lighting on a hospital bed. This baby is clearly distressed; however the spoon baby is calm and relaxed, bringing the audience into a false sense of security.
This campaign was pulled from our viewing after just two weeks and two adverts. This was because the photos were simply too much, too shocking and shocked the viewer into complaining. However, both campaigns were successful, and throughout the years, the campaigns have become more and more successful, yet more and more shocking.
George Collins September 2003