WATER AID ADVERT

Audience Theory
 SOCIAL/CULTURAL CONTEXT
• In December of 2016, this advert gained around 47 000 views on YouTube
and it actively encourages more people to share and review the advert
through multiple media channels, including Facebook, Twitter ect. More
evidence of the audience being targeted through technology would be
through the text SUNNY, which is also an imperative.

• The cover of Zoe's “Sunshine on a Rainy Day” could indicate that the target
audience would be people above their 30s, as it gives them a feeling of
nostalgia from hearing this in their youth, and seeing the child sing it will fill
them with the pleasure of knowing that song is still relevant.
 AUDIENCES INTERPRETING THE
MEDIA
• Water aid made their target audience clear as there were only two adults in
the advert and they were seen briefly, while the children in the video had
close up camera angles and had the main attention of the advert

This was targeting the hearts of specifically parents, as they can see the joy
that water has brought to the people in the village and how it has allowed
them to be healthy, so it would encourage them to donate as they would
want to allow these children to grow healthy, but also it makes them think
about what future their child would have without water.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND
HOW THEY APPLY:
• Reception theory: The indirect mode of address and handheld camera
angles interprets that this story had been created by Claudia herself, and this
can create connotations of this being Claudia's real life story, told from her
perspective. To Stuart Hall, this is hegemonic encoding (the audience
immediately accepts the story given to them), as the direction of the advert
makes it seem like this is Claudia's story, Claudia's village and the people she
sees walking to the village are people she sees almost every day, and this is
relative to the people watching the advert as they see people they know
unwittingly everyday, whether down the shops or just in their cars.
 CULTIVATION THEORY
• This theory might suggest that audiences have been unsensitised to the
images of children suffering without any water, or people struggling to
find/having to drink dirty water in these adverts. However, one thing that
people would be surprised with is the exposure of their work in a positive light
in this advert, and without even having the word “death” or “die” in the
advert, the audience is in itself shocked by the outlook of the advert and are
inspired and encouraged to donate in order to help progress the change
and provide a positive outcome.