Commercial and print advertisements use many elements in order to send a specific message to the audience. Each element works in a certain way to make the audience feel the way the author of the ad wants them to feel about the print or commercial ad. The "Crisis Relief Singapore: War" ad contains a numerous amount of elements that all work together in order to send a sad, or "in need of help" message. Not only that, but it is also using symbols to send a message to Facebook users, that find clicking "like" on a picture will actually help the people in need, that are featured on those ads all throughout their newsfeed.

The Singapore Crisis print ad embodies a false Facebook belief that fools many users looking through their newsfeed. When someone is scrolling down their newsfeed on Facebook they constantly see images of children with rare medical diseases, malnourished people, destroyed villages, or children dying in their mother's arms; and all of these images are shared along with statements like, "share or like to show your support, like to donate a dollar to this village, like to bring prayers to these people." These statements are potentially powerful but they lack any truth. It would be incredible if a certain amount of likes collected on an image could bring help to villages, children in hospitals, or people caught in catastrophic events. 

Facebook users actually believe that a 'like' donates money or shows "support", when in reality if they wanted to show support they would need to go out and figure out a way in which they could help out. If someone was to post a picture of their home after the damage of a natural disaster would 'liking' it helps them fix it up? Most definitely not. The only way they would receive help from anyone, would be if they were to offer help. 

The "Crisis Relief Singapore: War" ad is a photograph of what seems to be a mother, on the ground, holding her dead child in her arms. Around the two -- mother and son -- are twelve hands holding up a thumbs up and a quote that says "Liking isn't helping." Also, as the bottom right of the ad, another quote that says, "Be a volunteer. Change a life." With the ad being a photograph it contains the element of realism. Realism plays a big role on how the audience will respond to the ad because, photographs give the ad a feeling of it being a lot realer, than it would have if it were a painting. "Buyers "believe what the camera tells them because they know that nothing tells the truth so well," asserted the Photographers Association of America ("Photography and Print Advertising")." 

Texture plays a big role in the ad. Texture is "an element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as if they might feel if touched (Elements of Art)." The texture of the ground might feel sandy and looks like it could be cold. Also the texture of the people's clothes and skin. Both, their clothes and skin, are dirty, and could be concluded that the clothes feel ragged and their skin feels rough. The lines in the ad are abstract and three-dimensional, causing realism to look more apparent. Lines are the element in art that makes any piece three-dimensional or two-dimensional, that is why it may be the most important element used in this ad. Without the three-dimensional feel, it would not feel as real causing the impact to be not as great on the audience as it is meant to be. 

Color sets the tone and mood in most ads. The Singapore ad is not colorful; it is done in a black and white scale. Had it been colorful, it would have made it seem more casual and not as distressing as the ads message sends, because colorful pictures are more lighthearted than black and white pictures. The black and white scale adds a sort of melancholy tone to it. It also shows that what the picture shows is tragic and wretched. The color choice makes Singapore look like a horrible place to live in and gives it an extra poverty stricken look. Black and white scales are usually used for more serious matters such as this one. It makes someone want to go out and make a change, donate money, or try to help in every way that they can. 

Contrast is used to help specific things stand out more. Contrast is "a way of combining elements to stress the difference between those elements (Elements of Art)." There is a contrast between the mother and her child and the hands. The hands are surrounding the mother and her child, because they -- the mother and child -- are the focal point in the ad, but the hands are also standing out by becoming the frame around the focal point. Behind every object in the ad, there is either a lighter or darker shade behind it in order to make it stand out. Like contrast, shadow also helps things stand out. The most important place where shadow takes place, in the ad, is around the child's face. There is shadow under his face which causes his face to stand out, making the audience notice it further. It is hard to look at the face without feeling sad about what is occurring in Singapore. The dead child is the most influential portion of the ad. 

The thumbs up, framing the children and mother, are a symbol of the like button on Facebook. It is meant to help people understand that a Facebook like does not actually help like they think it does. If that is unclear, by just the picture, to the audience, the producers of the ad even included the quote, "Liking isn't helping." The intended audience are for the people of Facebook, the people who see these ads on their newsfeed and who "like" these pictures because they believe they are helping. In reality the only way one can help is by going out to help in the communities that need it most. The Singapore ad is greatly used because of how powerful the picture is, making it easy to get the message across to the audience. It is helping by getting people to sign up to become a volunteer at crisisrelief.org.

The elements of a print ad or commercial have great effects on the meaning and the interpretation. Color, symbols, realism, shadows, and many more play a role in how the audience gives meaning to the ad. Facebook likes are useless to everyone. The ad wants to show the audience that if you actually want to make a difference, liking a picture on Facebook is not the way to do it. The ad does a great way of conveying that message through the elements used.

