Oxfam Leaflet

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‘Looking at the Oxfam leaflet analyse the effectiveness of the techniques used to achieve the charities aims’.

The Oxfam leaflet that I am analysing is directed at an adult audience who have a bank account and are looking at making the lives of people in third world countries better.  The leaflet uses a variety of instilling images to persuade the reader to give money to Oxfam and the use of contrasting colours helps the flow of the leaflet.

The opening page of the leaflet is bright and dramatic, however it remains simple and uncluttered and gives the impression of a professional and well-known charity.  Besides the use of green to show the leaflet is from Oxfam, there is also the connotation of life, which cannot be sustained without water. There is also the connotation of nature which of course water is a part of, this links with Oxfam as the interpretation is that they are giving water to the people who need it in third world countries, so showing this is a reputable and essential charity to give to in terms of saving peoples lives.  The simple use of a tap wrapped up on the front page is genius.  We all have the connotation of water when we see a tap, which is what you will be providing to those people when you donate your money.  A tap is also something that many people in developed countries take for granted, everyone has a tap in their home and uses them almost everyday, so this well-known image appeals to everybody.  By having the tap wrapped up as well gives the impression of a gift, which is essentially what you will be providing for these people in third world countries, the gift of water.  The gift tag on the front page of the leaflet reinforces that this tap (which symbolises water), is a gift to people in the third world countries, the writing on the label is made to look as though it has been hand written, this makes it more personal to the reader, and of course if the leaflet can make the reader feel for people in third world countries and appeal to their emotions it will make the reader more likely to give money to Oxfam.  Focusing on the gift tags text ‘make a gift for life’ we can see a double meaning.  The first meaning which can be understood is that a gift of water (which the tap symbolises) is for life, the people in third world countries will be able to use this gift of water for a long time.  More often than not people in developed countries are bought gifts which last for a couple of years which then either gets broken or worn out or go out of fashion and then we dispose of them, however what Oxfam want to get across here is that this gift of water will not be thrown away or got rid of in a couple of years time it will be there for those people’s entire lives or in any case a long time.  The second meaning which can be inferred from the gift tag is that a gift of water will bring life.  As is common knowledge life cannot be sustained without water and so water is essential for life, by giving water as a gift it will enable these people to survive for longer, thus making a ‘gift for life’.  The Oxfam logo at the bottom of the page has been designed like that for a reason, the symbol in the middle of the circle is meant to represent a human. The reason for using a human is so that possible donators know this charity is for people and so makes it more personal increasing the chances for the charity to receive money.

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Moving on to the second and third pages of the leaflet, your attention is divided between the sharp contrasts of the black and white pages with the glass of water placed in the middle.  Concentrating on the black page first we can see that the images displayed are of the hardships, poor living conditions and poor way of life faced by many people living in third world countries.  By placing these images on a black background, which conjures up connotations of ‘bad’ and ‘dark’, reinforces the awful living conditions these people face.  Looking at each picture you can see ...

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