Unicef Advert – More Precious Than Gold

I don’t think charity adverts are good and effective because most people don’t really care about them. More people would rather be persuaded more to buy washing powder than to give away money to charities because people think they get nothing out of giving away money. People would rather buy something for themselves instead of donating money to a charity. This advert is about child exploitation and how it happens, this adverts purpose is to send out a message and to persuade people to give money to UNICEF, this advert is targeted at us. 

The advert is structured in a way where it shows the girl’s journey to her being exploited at the hands of an adult and the process she has been through. It begins with an introduction of Robbie Williams then a small clip of the girl’s journey. They purposely use Robbie Williams as the person who speaks because he is popular and famous, it could convince people to donate money because they might want to follow his footsteps of what he is doing. Robbie Williams talks about child exploitation in a detailed way. Robbie Williams talks about the injustice of child exploitation and he tries to persuade us with his slogan “ do nothing or do something “. This message he said gets stuck in our head. His body language is serious and concerned. Robbie Williams looks uncomfortable which shows a message that the short clip is not going to be a delight. 

The Advert uses mentions fruit as the girl, which is the extended metaphor. Fruit is not only to represent colours but also the same process of which the girl goes through. It is just like the girl has been ripened and ready to be sold. At the beginning the girl is happy and she is laughing in her village. The bright sun and the exotic dress and fruit have an iconography of happiness but the fruit symbolises the girl as much as the colour. This opening scene just shows that there aren’t any problems in the village and its just normal, but there is a dark side to all this happiness. Its when “ the heart of the fruit is discarded: the heart that is broken once the fruit is opened. It makes our eyes glued to the pictures we see, it persuades us to do something to tackle this problem and return happiness to the child.

After all those happy parts there was a dark side of it. When the handshake is shook it gives us an intention that something bad is going to happen, maybe something traumatic and blood curdling. We realise when something bad is going to happen when Robbie Williams says, “ Buyers arrive from the city, they seek out the tender buds, they pluck the best from the bunch, and they disappear into the dust”. The meaning of that phrase is that someone comes to buy the best children and the take them away abroad. The girl’s journey starts at a village in Africa, where she was living peacefully and happily but then there was a fake poster of a job as a nurse abroad, but it was really a trap to child exploitation, soon the colours got gloomier when the buyers arrive. There was tension on the faces of the people. Her parents shake hands and sell her, the girl isn’t aware of what is going on and what will happen. Then the dark colours put a shade over all the bright colours. The airport man knows that the girl has a fake passport but it isn’t uncommon for them, they must have seen this happen many times before. The frightening bit for the girl is when she is in the car; Robbie Williams phrased it, as “the heart is broken once the fruit is opened”. The man touches her leg, she is emotionless and speechless, and she knows her life is destroyed. She realises that the black mark is permanent with her for the rest of her life. It becomes so murky and sullen when it was so dark. Before the girl was in the car the prostitutes were posing and taunting, as they made dirty faces at the kerb caller and their clothes show that they have been treating badly and they are poor. The girl’s facial expressions show us that she has no emotions left in her. She tried to fit in with the British culture by wearing jeans and a bandana on her head. The language of the clip was coming from the narrator Robbie Williams, Who talks about the problem while the girl is getting exploited.

In conclusion I think this advert is persuasive because it disgusts people who watch and it could persuade people to tackle this problem and give money to UNICEF, I think the storyline is a great effect and the extended metaphor of the fruit was a good way of persuaded people to tackle this problem. I think the colour use and the strong words were excellent. The use of a celebrity was a great way to tackle this issue.