Subversive Ad (Daniel)

For this design project, I focused on the issue of inaction toward many social issues. The evolution of social media has all be revolutionized our daily lives. While this has brought much positivity into our lives and social connectedness, it also comes with some unintentional consequences. As such, the advertisement I created brings to question whether a “sad reaction” toward a Facebook post, or “emphasizing tweet” on Twitter serves enough justice for our empathy as human beings. In doing so, it hopes to spur action in the form of volunteering or donating through charitable means.

I was particularly inspired by the Salvation Army “Giving Hope Today” ad campaign (shown below), which uses the phrase “poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence” as a metaphor analogizing poverty as a form of constant imprisonment. The dark tones within the image also help to establish the seriousness of the situation and something I wanted to incorporate in my own ad. From a design perspective, I chose this black and white image taken by Nicolas Fanny with the poverty-stricken child staring blankly at the screen. On the bottom right hand corner is a silhouette of a woman scrolling through social media and “reacting” to different posts. The silhouette design is intentional, as its meant to detract any individual traits and serve as a generalization for individuals (McCloud). The child is also surrounded by a flood of emotes, but remains unfazed. The artificiality of the Facebook reactions are also in stark contrast to the realism of the surrounding nature. This goes to show the good-nature of “likes” but brings to question their actual impact. As inspired by other minimalistic ads, the text is minimal and goes for an “amplification through simplification” approach.” Finally, there is an upside logo of Facebook, which draws further commentary at the complacency that that these reactions allow us to have at broader social issues, and those of which allow us to feel at ease with our support for issues such as poverty.