Salvation Army Advertisement Analysis

In 2015, the Salvation Army launched its domestic abuse advertisement, (The Salvation Army, 2015) featuring the iconic ‘Dress.’ The infamous dress caused international debates as many argued the dress to be either white and gold or blue and black (Visentin, 2015).The target audience are those who are active on social media as they will understand the visual reference.

Through their advertisement, The Salvation Army want to raise awareness for domestic abuse victims and to influence their audience to help those in abusive situations. To achieve their goal, they rely heavily on pathos. Through the woman’s bruised appearance is used to evoke sympathy for the female and others in her situation. Additionally, pathos is also used to generate guilt

One in six women are victims of abuse.” Again, the dress illusion is referenced but in compliance with the confrontational fact. The fact grasps the audience’s attention and reinforces the message that unlike the illusion of the dress, domestic abuse is a real problem that impacts a large scale of women.

The three important elements of the advertisement are the dress, the woman and the script as their presence assists to influence the audience to help those in abusive relationships. The importance of these elements are also observed with how they are positioned on the advertisement. The woman dominates the advertisement, forcing the audience to look at her and the dress. In addition, the background of the image is bland, contrasting the boldness of woman and the dress.

The woman is the signified of the image, with the dress and text, allowing the audience to explore denotations regarding physical abuse. The audience are first drawn to the dress and then to the woman’s face. By first observing the dress which is clearly white and gold, the audience are able to make connections to conflict and the colours black and blue. However, upon observing the bruises on the woman and the text, the audience are able to comprehend the connotations regarding the severity of physical abuse. By referencing the dress in the text, the connotations extend to how people ignore the signs of abuse and the life threatening