A Memorable Commercial

When a conflict occurs in a country far away from someone, it can be hard to empathize. Creating a memorable commercial can help ingrain a message in the minds of an oblivious audience. To achieve this, the ad consists of one second clips of a young girl’s life, similar to viral trend of “one second a day video”. This commercial begins with a closeup clip of a young British girl at her birthday party, surrounded by her friends and family. All the scenes are set up so that the young girl is in the center of the view, creating a sense of closeness and familiarity. As each second passes, another snippet of the young girl’s life passes with most of the clips consisting of her having fun, appealing to the emotions of the audience as they become attached. Underlying the innocence, minor background

War breaks out in the UK and a family is shown evacuating while the innocent girl continues smiling at the 0:23 second mark. This juxtaposition of the urgent background and the innocent child creates a sense of suspense, increasing the impact of these scenes. Throughout the next few seconds, the girl’s smile quickly fades. Between seconds 00:30 and 00:36, the audience sees the girl’s father stocking cans, a newsflash about airstrikes, the power going out, and the girl’s parents arguing over whether they will stay or not. The back to back troubles and quick pacing generate a feeling of urgency and insecurity in the audience that forces them to feel the sense of fear that war children feel and suddenly changing the situation is also an attempt to get the audience to have a sense of what these children go through. The way that the ad plays out is a mimesis imitating the quick loss of security that these victims face. Furthermore, seeing the progression of a once happy girl, to a sad and disconnected girl influences the audience’s emotions. What once seemed impossible and distant to the audience is now real and