
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) presents a commercial depicting the neglect, abuse, and suffering of animals in various situations. As a result, viewers are made aware of the abuse and it influences their judgement to get involved with the cause. Shots of animals wallowing in filth and abject living situations trigger a feeling of guilt on a deeper and more intense level. By using these various camera techniques and graphics, the commercial effectively influences the viewers to take a greater role in helping the ASPCA save these animals. 

Sarah McLachlan the celebrity narrator chosen for her familiarity with animal lovers sings “In the Arms of an Angel”, a song about a precious life.  As she sings, the words to her song, the words “every hour an animal is beaten or abused” flash across the screen. This combination of words and the song establish a very realistic and intense tone, foreshadowing the sad and depressing state of the animals in the commercial to come. The audience soon encounters more disturbing images as Sarah McLachlan continues to sing her song in the background. Portraying the animals in such dire conditions forces the audience to become engaged right away, making them actually read what is on the screen. Each word of the statements read details of harsh reality of the pet’s life, and the hopelessness they experience. Viewers are able to vicariously sympathize with the sadness these misused animals experience as white text words contrasted against a black background, sway their emotions. Together, these colors and words add a more intense meaning of the text, and make the overall picture look even more tragic. The technique of slowly zooming in on the text as it flashes across the screen emphasizes the effort to appeal to the viewer’s sentiment. This allows the audience to put into perspective, right away, how common this issue is. Viewers become vulnerable to this subject and what they should do, realizing something must be done immediately.  

As the commercial continues, images of various animals suffering insures that the audience is creating a dialogue between the animals and the viewer.  This dialogue manipulates the viewer's emotions, making them vulnerable to the guilt they have already been exposed to in previous images.  The audience gets a front row seat as the camera zooms in on the animal’s eyes, making the dialogue more impactful.  These animals are unable to communicate verbally, and so movement is used to convey their emotions. Close up shots visually draw the viewers in by slowly zooming in on the animal’s face. This type of shot gives the viewer an idea of how bad the conditions are from the animal’s perspective.  This is done to trigger the concern for those who care about animals, especially those who are pet owners. Once again creating a non-verbal dialogue with audience about the deplorable conditions the animals face.  When one of the cats looks up at the camera it immediately translates a feeling of hope these animals are looking for from the viewers. The purpose being to have the audience realize they are the only ones who can make a difference in these animal’s lives. 

By the time the narrator, Sarah McLaughlin finishes reiterating information from the text washing across the screen and narrating, she has conveyed to the audience in a clear, straightforward and visual way the urgency of helping these animals. The audience is emotionally vulnerable to these animal’s situations. Contact information at the bottom of the screen allows viewers to react right away to these feelings by donating. By calling the number to this specific organization makes the experience more personal to the audience rather than looking at a website with random contacts. Above the telephone number, the website of the organization is listed in a smaller font, suggesting that this is another place the audience can reach out to. Displaying both the number and the website, the viewer can recognize that the telephone number is the primary contact because it gives the organization another chance to convince the viewer to donate to the ASPCA. The ASPCA is effective in making it easier for the audience to soothe their sadness and sense of responsibility from the images presented in the commercial by taking advantage of their guilt and vulnerability that was developed in the previous scenes and donating to the organization. 

Overall, the ASPCA is successful in incorporating graphics, camera techniques, song and celebrity endorsements in an effective way to convince the viewer to feel guilty for these animals who are victims of animal abuse. This causes them to feel guilt and a need to donate. Information about the abuse of the animals flashing across the screen plays a major role in undermining the audience's emotions by exposing them to the depths and effects of animal cruelty.  It also educates the viewer about animal abuse. Integrating bleak images, close up shots of the different animals, statistical information and an angelic voiced narrator, convinces the audience to be very emotionally engaged in the cause. The use of these different elements appeals to the pathos, ethos, and logos of the viewer to insure the embodiment of guilt, resulting in feeling the need to help the ASPCA. 
