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May 16, 2009
Beautiful and emotional. But will it work?
This video was described by Ann Althouse as "A beautiful, emotional anti-gun ad." Which it is. See for yourself. One of the things I most like about Ann Althouse is that she fearlessly and unhesitatingly highlights the strengths and weaknesses of arguments on both sides, regardless of which side she and most of her readers might be on. The above ad is beautifully done, and of course it appeals strongly to the emotions, but I don't see how it could persuade anyone to switch from the pro-gun to the anti-gun side. The only way I could see it changing minds would be by making people more entrenched in their existing thinking, and possibly polarize things a bit more. If the comments to Ann Althouse's post are any indication, not a single person's mind was changed from being against to being for gun control. Lots of commenters are extremely annoyed at the obvious manipulation, though. (As am I.) Here's Pastafarian: Here's an idea for another beautiful ad: Use ultra-slow-motion photography to show speeding cars smashing melons and pumpkins; then replace the melon with a child's head, and the car with the tagline:There's also considerable discussion of the exploding watermelon -- one commenter asks why it would be racist to propose going "watermelon huntin'" -- but not "ketchup huntin'." Another commenter said, "The film was racist because it associated watermelons with black youths." Really. And why does a liberal organization get away with juxtaposing watermelons with black youths in an ad campaign? I think that what ads like this are intended to do is not persuade the opposition, nor are they intended to preach to the choir. Rather, they are intended to agitate the choir into getting more outraged than they had been previously, in the hope that they'lll go out and do something. In other words, persuade those who already agree to become highly partisan, by-any-means-necessary activists. Oddly enough, Second Amendment activists might be able to use it the same way. I'm already a member of that choir, and even seeing the film makes me want to send the NRA* another check right now. Which I just did. Wow. I guess beautiful and emotional ads can be effective after all! * I sent a check to the NRA-ILA. If the video annoyed you as much as it did me, feel free to contribute too! posted by Eric on 05.16.09 at 02:36 PM
Comments
Being a perverse individual, I was struck with the similarity between the apple and watermelon explosions. I think the ketchup bottle explosion was intended to provoke the most anti-gun feeling... yet, I cannot help but think that equating our brains with any of the offered simulations is more than silliness. We don't know what a human head looks like after being hit with a bullet because we're too humane to do that experiment. We don't even know what a dog's head or a pig's head looks like, do we? If those photos were representative, there would be no survivors of bullets to the brain, yet... I believe there are such examples, are there not? Our skull is not comparable to the skin of an apple or the rind of a watermelon. The texture and consistency of our brains are not comparable to those of a watermelon or an apple. The video was meant to be an emotional appeal to the non-thinking... If a bullet were to hit my head and take out my benign brain tumor, I'd be no worse off than after radiation... except that I'd have less hair. It's a total appeal to emotion and though I appreciate the beauty of the photos for other reasons, no reason to support gun control is given. Donna B. · May 16, 2009 10:28 PM What I took away from the ad was "Don't shoot kids in the head." Which seems like a reasonable message that I can agree with and support. Joe R. · May 17, 2009 04:53 AM |
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I can see where an ad like this would be very effective, in the pursuit of a different goal.
You'll need volunteers willing to donate their bodies to science. The PDA opens with a body of a young woman, her head propped up on a stand. A large bullet enters from the left in slow motion and we watch has it blows the head apart. In total we watch as the heads of four recently deceased humans of both genders and different ages are shot in front of our eyes. The spot ending with the legend, "Guns are not toys."
Harsh? Sometimes you have to apply that lumber with vigor to get the mule's attenion.