The startling image from the Cancer Society depicts a child suffocating from a plastic bag over his head--at least it seems so from a distance. As we zoom in, we see that the plastic bag is actually a cloud of smoke in the shape of a bag.. Below this, the words read, "Smoking isn't just suicide. It's murder." Luckily for  us viewers, this text conveys the main message the artist wants to get across, so there is no search for the message. But sometimes words need visual help to get the message across. By choosing to show the message through contrast, a visual pun and childhood references, underlying messages and emotion, the artist was able to support the text.

The most visually obvious element is the use of contrast,  particularly the contrast between subject and background. The background is solid black while the subject, the boy, is pale and bright. The contrast alone supports the theme because by choosing dark verses light, the artist means this to portray life verses death. Death is  naturally portrayed by the dark background, and life by the glowing, young boy himself. The text says that smoking is murder, so what is it murdering? The contrast emphasizes the subject of the ad. 	The next supporting factor is the shape the smoke takes around the boy's head -- which, as it turns, out is a visual pun. At first, we take that shape to be that of a plastic bag. This assumption refers back to what we learned as children: as a general "no-no" and to avoid risks of suffocating, we learned to never put plastic bags over our heads. In fact, many products came with warning labels to help remind us just in case we forget. We were taught that we could suffocate, lose air, and face a very fatal consequence. Having the little boy be portrayed as life and the smoke as a plastic bag that is a contributor in a form of death, the artist achieved the goal of "Smoking isn't just suicide. Its murder" almost too obviously. The smoke is blatantly suffocating the boy--the smoke is murdering him.

The word choice from this ad is specifically violent. "Suicide" and "murder" are not light hearted words that one can just throw around. They come with heavy emotion, dark thoughts and possibly personal ties. Suicide and murder insinuates crime. Crime insinuates something done intentionally and with a desire to harm. Therefore, smoking is a crime. Lighting a cigarette means you are intentionally causing harm to not only yourself but to those around you.

As we look deeper into this image, we see that the artist hit almost every aspect of the contributors and consequences of smoking.  The boy is young and cannot escape the smoke. By this the artist also refers to second hand smoking. As young children it's hard to avoid anything really because we're guided in everything we do. Avoiding cigarette smoke, especially if it is within your own home is something that a child unfortunately cannot escape. Children are powerless and cannot choose their own environment. Protecting these children just requires the will power of parents and adults to stop smoking. Not only does this ad raise awareness for smoking as a form of death but also for cancer awareness. Without the Cancer Society's logo, this ad could have stopped at the consequences for smoking, but because the mark of the Cancer Society, we as viewers now understand the true meaning. The image is specifically targeting how smoke leads to cancer and how cancer will lead to death.

But no message is truly received if it does not result in some kind of emotion. All the previous mentioned inferences contribute to how the artist chose discomfort, anger and fear as the emotions that we take from the image. Having the subject be a young boy was the main contributor to our emotions. Being young took part to the emotion of innocence. Having that innocence appear crying and helpless leaves the audience with discomfort. As humans, we cannot help but want to help a crying child by raising the pitch of our voices, speaking softly and asking what's wrong. What if the boy was a man being suffocated by smoke? We certainly would not feel the same way and would change our mindset into not wanting to help, but maybe scold, because a man is certainly capable of making his own decisions. What's so powerful about this particular image is that it leaves us angry that we can't help the specific boy because it is only a picture. It has us wanting to grab the bag of smoke off his head and wipe his tears away. This image wants us to help. It makes us want to do something to help this crying child. It leaves us dissatisfied.

By drawing us in with the strong contrast in subject and background, by making us realize the plastic bag was actually smoke, and by triggering emotions that compel action the artist achieves his or her goal in delivering this message. How do we help and prevent murders caused by smoke? How do we help the boy? We simply stop smoking. But the ad doesn't just stop at smoking, it actually triggers us adults and our actions. Because the subject was a young boy who was powerless in his suffocation of smoke, it implies that our actions affect the youth. We as adults have the true power to preserve our youth.
