People are constantly surrounded by the media. People see ads in newspapers, magazines, on television, billboards, at bus stops, the sides of vehicles; it is almost impossible not to notice some form of advertisement. The media uses advertisements to introduce a new product or a way of life. It tries to manipulate the viewers through their product to either get them to buy it or use it. Other forms of advertisements are designed to raise awareness or apprising the population of new improvements or developments in the industrial economy.
It is important for the viewers, as the consumers, to understand the deeper meanings that are being depicted in the more implicit advertisements. The advertisement, Aids Makes Us Equal, serves more as a community service announcement to help raise awareness of aids to the public for an AIDs Awareness campaign. It does not matter how strong an individual is, contract aids and his or her fate is sealed. By appealing to strength and power the aids awareness ad uses Wonder Woman, an iconic figure, to get the message out that the AIDS virus kills. The advertisement depicts Wonder Woman lying in a hospital bed looking severely ill.
She has on her red, white, blue, and gold costume instead of a normal patient hospital gown. She is still wearing her famous tiara and magic bracelets, golden bands with a single red star in the center. Her golden lasso of truth is lying on the table beside the bed to her right along with a metal pan and two bottles, one glass the other plastic. A white sheet covers her lower body up to her hips, but the viewer can still see some of the white stars on the blue bottoms of her costume. She has an intravenous drip hooked up to her left arm pumping fluids into her rundown body.
Her eyes are dark and cheeks sunken in; her once golden skin tone now resembles that of a corpse, and her bones are prominent on her malnourished body. A bruise in the inside of her elbow on the right arm implies that the spot was recently punctured by a needle, whether it is that of an IV or from a previous injection of a form of drugs. This may possibly be trying to convey that her disease may have come from un- sanitized needles, rather than unsafe sexual activities. Wonder Woman’s head is turned slightly towards her left with no facial expression but her eyes say what she is feeling.
Her eyes say that she is ready, ready for the agony to stop, ready to die. At the bottom of the ad the text states, “Aids makes us equal”. The viewer may also notice the red aids awareness ribbon. After reading the text, one can presume that Wonder Woman has contracted the AIDS/HIV virus and is suffering in the hospital. When looking at the ad, the viewer will notice the words “Protect yourself” below the campaigns logo. The author is stating that the viewer should take more precautions to protect his or herself from the virus.
He or she could try using a condom for sexual activities or sterile needles for drug related habits for more protection. Overall, this representation shows that it does not matter how strong an individual is before they contract the deadly disease, the results will always be the same, an agonizingly painful death. No one is beyond the reach of the deadly disease. Wonder Woman’s character in the comic books can spread across several different age groups, but could have been made with a young-adult audience more in mind as the primary target.
Young adults who are sexually active or those who will become sexually active may be drawn more to this advertisement as a warning. The warning is if aids can hurt Wonder Woman this bad, what can it do to the viewers? She is one of the most popular and iconic female superheroes in the comic book world. Her powers include flight, super speed and super strength, stamina and agility, and immortality. She is a symbol of strength and power yet, this AIDS virus is drawing the life right out of her.
The viewer’s perspective is as if they are standing to her left by the foot of the bed looking at her. The body language being projected from Wonder Woman is that of a person giving up on life; someone who sees no reason in asking for help anymore because their poor decisions have finally caught up with them. The lasso of truth that had been set to the side could signify that maybe “the truth” is the reality of the AIDS virus. The lighting is dim helping to create the sorrow and dominant death impression one gets from the image.
The advertisement uses pathos to invoke pity for the dying Wonder Woman by making the viewer feel as if he or she is standing right there in the room with her at the moment. Everyone has been to a hospital to see a loved one or someone they knew when they were ill or dying and it is natural to feel sorry for that person. Also, the text itself can affect the emotions of the viewer. “Aids makes us equal” represents that it does not matter who contracts aids; if contracted the result is the same. The ad itself is explicit because it is clearly expressed so the viewer does not have to stand there and wonder what message the ad is conveying.
The message is if the AIDS virus can destroy someone that is supposedly one of the strongest women on the planet and believed to be indestructible, then it is obvious how easy it could destroy and kill a common individual. This indicates that the virus can attack anybody, even the toughest among us, and it is the viewer’s responsibility to get educated about the AIDS virus and spread awareness.
Work Cited Daniloff, Dimitri. Aids Awareness: “WONDER WOMAN”. Coloribus. 2004. Web. Photograph. 06 Oct 2013.