Analysis Of The Advertisement Of Ontario Council Of Agencies Serving Immigrants
This advertisement is a poster from an anti-black racism campaign which is launched by the City of Toronto and the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI). The target audience for this advertisement are not only Torontonians, but also people in Ontario and Canadians. This advertisement aims for both black people and white people, be it for the people who encountered it or people who witnessed it.
The advertisement has a strong emotional appeal. The main graphics that will first grab the target audiences’ focus are the two persons’ head which is obviously different in their face colour.
Moreover, both of them are male, which makes the skin colour as the only difference between them at first sight. The white male on the left has fairly white skin which represents white people, whereas the male on the right has very dark skin colour that symbolises black people. This would lead people to think of race issues as racism is a very sensitive and controversial topic in Western countries. To be specific, this advertisement is focusing on the male racism issues in employment, as readers can relate through the slogan, “QUICK, HIRE ONE. ” The language in the ad further explains the racism culture in Toronto. The slogan, “QUICK, HIRE ONE. ” which stands out from the surrounding text in large, black and bold font aims to attract audiences’ attention at their first sight. It also emphasizes on the racism discrimination in employment. The slogan gives a feeling that it is challenging viewers to query their potential racial bias. The slogan is hinting at the audiences that they may be racist to other people consciously or unconsciously. The word, “Quick” leads audiences to imagine that if they were to make a fast decision and were given an option to choose one of them to become their employee, who will they choose. Then, this thought will lead the audiences to reflect on themselves whether their decisions themselves are racist or not.
This slogan, matched together with the two males may seem to be a racist ad which would offend people. But, the following sentence suggest that this is actually a anti-black racism for a awareness campaign. The sentence below the slogan, “Anti Black racism happens here. Let’s confront it. Torontoforall. ca” tells people that although racism itself isn’t obvious, but it is still present and happening all the time in reality. people become self- aware about their own biases and stereotypes they hold about black people and how it shows up in their interactions or behavior including remaining silent and uninvolved when they see, hear or feel that racism is happening. The phrase, “ Let’s confront it. ” urges target audiences who had encountered racist experiences at workplaces speak up and share their experiences in helping raising awareness in Toronto.
This OCASI advertisement appeals the target audiences by addressing concerns about Toronto’s latest situation regarding racism culture, especially the racial discrimination happening in the workplaces. Racism still remains as a major problem in Western society, where black people encountered in their daily life from all aspects. Racism in workplaces has led to many unemployments of black people, which will eventually lead them into a poverty life. This ad seeks to remind the target audiences of the importance of equal human rights. This ad’s goal is to make people face their biases and racial assumptions about black people. To sum up, this ad has implicit messages including to give rise to the discussions of anti-black racism in Toronto and wanting people to get through the biases based on the stereotypes that they hold against black people. In short, they want people to have people become self-aware of their behaviour of remaining silent and uninvolved with the racist incidents they witnessed.
