Visual Communication: Effective Health Messages
Its quite crazy. Every morning I turn on the radio station and/or my local TV news, It seems health precautions and vaccine advertisements have completely dominated the old media. Hearing safety protocols repeat over and over through the car almost makes me feel as if were living in apocalyptic times. But it is in those very messages, the ones that instill a bit of fear in me, that inflict serious thought within me and allow me to double check my own cleanliness.
Similar to propaganda, you know media messages are effective when they make you question and/or make you change your ways of thinking and interacting. News stations, social media platforms, even billboard screens are used as a means of reaching as many people as possible, especially when it comes to reminding Americans to wash their hands, wear their masks, and stand 6 feet apart. It’s as if these words are plastered everywhere. Not only are the words important, but the images associated with them have been embedded into my brain.
While advertisement companies based their effectiveness on how much it appeals to the intended audience, I do believe that appeals to emotion are not always effective. I oh so vividly am thinking about this one specific vaccine advertisement that plays on the radio constantly. The ad consist of a voice of a teenager girl who is apparently hooked up to a ventilator, struggling to breathe. As we listen to her gasp for air, she says “I wish I got vaccinated. Tell my friends I love them, tell my friends to get vaccinated.”. While the ad does grab attention, many believe these kinds of vaccine ads are going way too far. I’m saddened that I cant seem to find the audio to embed here for you guys reading, but I bet if you listen to 97.1 or any other popular radio station, you might catch it within 30 minutes. The ad basically placed a teenage girl on her death bed , insinuating that not getting vaccinated will have you in similar circumstances.
As I am pro Vaccine, I’d do believe there should be limitations on these kinds of advertisements. However, its intriguing to think, would adding visuals to this advertisement have negatively or positively affected the reactions to it?
