The Only Witness Won’t Talk

Whitney Williams

Women suffering from domestic violence need your help.

Background Information

Amnesty International is a global movement of people fighting injustice and promoting human rights. It is the world’s largest human rights organization. This year is also Amnesty’s 50th year in protecting human rights. This advertisement was published by Amnesty Internationals advertising agency DDB Budapest in October of 2008.

What is the main argument of the picture?

What is the main argument of the picture?

Amnesty International uses the advertisement to create an argument to stop domestic violence. The toddler is young enough to where she doesn’t know exactly what’s going on but, she knows it is wrong and her mother is being hurt. They cannot charge men who often use domestic violence against women because children won’t or can’t talk about what happened and we need to raise awareness about domestic violence so that women abused are not afraid to speak out.

Who is the intended audience?

Who is the intended audience?

The intended audience is anyone who knows someone who is being domestically abused or even someone who is being domestically abused themselves. The ad is trying to get people to speak out about domestic violence.

What is omitted from the advertisement?

What is omitted from the advertisement?

The arms, legs, and the rest of the toddlers body are omitted. The advertisement is just wanting the audience to focus on how the child feels and the fact that it is the only witness to the domestic violence occurring.

Does the removal of the words change the message?

Does the removal of the words change the message?

Yes because all you see now is a crying child. It could turn the advertisement from being about domestic violence to child abuse or a number of different things.

What is the ethical appeal of the ad?

Ethos

The Amnesty International logo at the bottom left is the ethical appeal. The lighted candle represents hope and the barbed wire represents the prisoners that Amnesty International is trying to help.

What is the emotional appeal?

Pathos

The emotional appeal that is given off by the little girl crying is sorrow. Amnesty wants the audience to feel pity for the child and the people being domestically abused.

What is the logical appeal?

Logos

The logical appeal in this advertisement is the fact that children of that age usually cannot speak up for what they have seen because they do not purely understand it yet. Even if the children are old enough to understand, it would be hard for them to hurt their dads by telling on them.

Citations

Marzouq, Samer. "Amnesty International the Only Witness Won’t Talk, Stop Domestic Violence." Amnesty International the Only Witness Won’t Talk, Stop Domestic Violence. Amnesty International, 2 Mar. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.

"End the Cycle of Violence." Amnestyusa.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.