For kids, going to a circus is nothing less than a treat. It doesn’t get any better than sitting in a large arena with family, enjoying good food, watching monkeys juggle, lions who can jump through hoops of fire and seeing elephants dance, right? Going to the circus has been one of the most popular family activities for centuries. It is a way for the family to spend time together while kids watch their favorite animals do crazy tricks. What many, especially kids, don’t realize is what goes on behind the scenes for a circus to come together. These animals aren’t born with the ability to jump through hoops; in fact, it takes years to master. An hour of enjoyment takes away the freedom and happiness of an animal for a lifetime; circuses are animal cruelty. The advertisement entitled “Animals Are Not Clowns” uses textual and visual evidence to show the audience that circuses are inhumane and go against moral values solely to provide entertainment that ruins the lives of the innocent animals that are chosen to be circus pets. 

The advertisement uses the combination of a visual and descriptive text to get across the main point that circuses are animal cruelty. A monkey is depicted as a clown behind bars that creates an overall dark and negative mood. The color on the monkey’s face draws the viewer to the middle of the image. Here, the viewer can see the tear and the frown painted on the monkey’s face to show how the animal is in pain. In front of the face are steel bars that emphasize the idea that animals involved in circuses are so restricted it resembles being imprisoned. Shown next to the face is text that resembles the tone of a ringmaster. This aspect of the advertisement is powerful because it puts the reader in the perspective of the animal. The advertisement reads, “Role up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls for the crack of the whip against the animal’s stinging wounds…the injuries and the electric shock”. While the audience sits, cheers, and enjoys themselves, the animals are whipped and forced to comply to the ringmaster. These characteristics come together to create a dark and depressing mood that elicits the feeling of guilt. Guilt is created by not only the monkey who is clearly in pain, but also the sense of mockery that the text creates. “Laugh, applaud and join in with the repetitive choreographed routines typical of depressed animals under great stress” emphasizes that people are too stupid to realize that they are paying for and enjoying the torture of innocent creatures.  

The overarching purpose of this advertisement is to defend the rights that animals should have and also help people realize that circuses are an extremely cruel way for people to enjoy themselves. The most prominent rhetorical appeal used to achieve this is pathos. To communicate the purpose, the author must connect with the audience on an emotional level. The idea of a monkey behind bars automatically elicits a negative response from the audience. It is also important to note that the animal used for this ad is a monkey, and monkeys are scientifically closet to the human race. This creates negative emotion because an animal closet to humans genetically is treated this way solely for entertainment. The text within the ad evokes an emotional response because it creates a disturbing image in the mind of the viewer. The ad describes these circus animals as “human caricatures”, saying that they are being forced to do things that they weren’t born to do. On the bottom right of the advertisement are the logos of the companies that created this ad, appealing to ethos and the credibility of the author. It gives credibility because the two organizations behind this advertisement are well-known defendants of animals rights. The style of this argument is informal because it is based on emotions and moral values rather than an argument with concrete evidence. The style focuses on creating positive ideas into negative ones to show the physical and emotional damage that circuses have on animals. The monkey is depicted as a miserable clown and the circus is referred to as “the famed number of cages and tightly binding chains allowing no escape from endless training sessions”. Creating this gloomy atmosphere attracts attention and an emotional response from the audience. 

Behind this advertisement are two well-known Portuguese companies who are very involved in the animal rights community. As shown on the advertisement itself, the two companies who produced this are the LPDA (Portuguese League for Animals Rights) and Acção Animal. These two organizations focus on the rights of animals by creating visual advertisements that depict how poorly animals can be mistreated by humans. From this, it is obvious that their target audience is not only those who attend circuses, but furthermore those who mistreat animals in general. These companies attempt to create powerful advertisements that help people realize how cruel humans can be to animals and to stop it because they have rights as well. The common theme in the advertisements produced by these organizations involves putting the viewer in the animal’s perspective. 

A line that stands out in the ad states, “Don’t be apart of the show”. This brings together the message and purpose of the advertisement. The author created this ad to emphasize that the “show” put on is simply forcing animals to do human-like, outrageous activities that they were not born to do, which is animal cruelty. Also, the author wants the audience to realize this and take in the perspective of the animal and not support activities that involve forcing them to do things they aren’t meant to do.  