Two Pictures, Three Words

This is a print ad from the World Wildlife Federation about sharks and how they are threatened by humans. The initial target audience for this ad is anyone who has ever thought about sharks and has been afraid of them. Beyond that, the real target audience is really people who care about the environment and how humans are hurting it. The audience for this ad is probably more educated and probably higher on the socio-economic scale because they would have the time and the resources to be concerned about the environment and even, hopefully, to donate to it.

At first it seems that the ad appeals to our need to feel safe, but it is really on two levels. The first photo uses a common photo--the shark fin coming out of the water. We associate this picture with everything from the movie "Jaws" to cartoons to signs on the edge of beaches. We fear for our lives that sharks might kill us and eat us if we go into the water. Just as the ad says, when we see this picture it is "horrifying." We want to feel safe from the horrifying things that sharks can do to us.

But, on a much deeper level, the ad is saying that without sharks what can happen to the world is much "more horrifying." With only two words, the ad is saying that we are more dangerous to sharks than they are to us and that, if we kill too much wildlife, we will destroy the ecosystem, which will be much more dangerous to us in the long run than a shark killing us.