Comparison of Images of Children and Childhood in Two Advertisements

The following interpretations and comparisons utilise Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006) framework, unless otherwise indicated.

OPTION A

Why I chose these two texts

Cleverly constructed emotive messages in relation to the expectations of children appear evident in the following two texts - ‘Gun’, a 2006 Italian poster advertisement (TEXT 1) produced by the ‘Save The Children Fund’, and ‘Huggies’, a 2010 US magazine advertisement (TEXT 2) – it is clear that childhood expectations from western society around the developmental tasks of children are contrasting, depending on where the child is born and is being raised. However, both texts also express a similar ideology reflecting attitudes that children, no matter what country they come from, need to fulfil the expectations from those who contribute to their welfare. In TEXT 1, this is the children’s advocacy organisation, as stated at the bottom of the text. On the other hand, TEXT 2 indicates that this would be the parents talking, implied by the choice of vertical angle and the close up shot, giving the viewer a perspective that would be the same as a parent looking over the baby as it sleeps.

Interpretation

Though TEXT 1 targets people living in a war torn country, it also involves those who have not been in such situations while giving them a level of detachment through an onlooker’s point of view. The image and the text creates an empathic connection through the modulation of dramatic shadows and shades of grey, absence of colour and a medium shot to provide salience to a gun with a blood red pencil, unnaturally suspended in a vast space against the forces of gravity. The viewer is presented with a sense of the cold harshness, isolation and loneliness that children in su...

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Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Designs (2 ed.). Routledge.

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