When companies are devising plans for advertisements, they must find ways to grab people’s attention. Whether it is a television commercial or a billboard, the goal of the advertisement is to garner attention from people who are viewing it. Advertisers must also determine what specific group or type of people they must target based on what they are selling.

This advertisement is for The Australian Red Cross. It is to raise awareness for blood donations. It shows a donation box, similar to one that would be seen at a checkout counter at a store that people will usually put their loose change in. However, instead of money, there is blood inside of the container. The sign above it reads, “Money Isn’t Everything. Save up to three lives without spending a cent.” Underneath that is a phone number to call and a website for The Australian Red Cross.

The targeted audience of this advertisement is essentially anyone who sees the ad. As the ad and other Red Cross ads suggest, anyone can donate blood. This advertisement is certain to catch the attention of passersby. The uniqueness of its image is startling and eye-catching. The appearance of human blood in a donation box would definitely cause people to look at the ad, and hopefully read and acknowledge its message. Also, the sentence “Money isn’t everything” in large, bold lettering is attention-grabbing. Countless numbers of people in today’s society worry about money, and this advertisement is a stark reminder to those people that there are more critical issues in society today. This advertisement is specifically referring to life or death, and how people fighting for their life can be easily helped with a donation of blood. This advertisement also does an effective job of appealing to people’s emotions, as stating that donating blood can save up to three lives may cause people to think how important donating blood really is, and realize how substantial saving three the lives of three people.

There is very little use of color in this advertisement. The only thing that shows color is the blood in the donation box. This may be to make sure that the blood is the first thing that draws attention to the viewer, hoping that they will see the blood, be surprised, and continue to read the writing above the donation box itself. 

The advertiser is showing a blunt reminder of how important blood donation is in saving people’s lives. The use of literal human blood directly shows the viewer what the advertiser wants, and the writing above it makes their message very clear as well. The Australian Red Cross shows everything that they want the observer to see and read in their advertisement. 

Reality has been altered greatly in this announcement. This altered reality is what makes the advertisement garner attention. This is done in a shocking and perplexing way, as opposed to a positive way which is more common for advertisements. A person viewing this notice would be shocked to see it, as blood in general is not a common item that one would typically see in an advertisement. Seeing blood in a donation box would only add to the shock and confusion of a person who has viewed the advertisement without reading the caption above the donation box.

The text in the ad is used to explain the image below it quickly and effectively. Without the text, the advertisement would be completely useless, as it would leave the viewers wondering what the images signifies or is trying to promote. The combination between the eye-catching blood and the clear text explaining the advertisement are a compelling combination in making this ad and effective one.

The advertiser is making the assumption that the majority of people viewing their advertisement have not donated blood before. It targets these people and gives them information on how to donate blood and how important donating blood it to society as a whole.

Overall, this advertisement does an effective job of catching the viewer’s attention, and then explaining its message to it. It uses imagery to display its message, and a combination between text and image does a good job at completing both of these tasks. The Australian Red Cross’ advertisement use of simplicity also helps in completing the task of having people view it and understand its point. 