Rhetorical Analysis Of Anti-Smoking Advertising

Smoking claims the lives of about 13,000 people every day. This staggering number does not even include the deaths caused by secondhand smoking. This unhealthy trend is becoming more and more of a problem. In order to break down and analyze the effects and elements that make up an anti-smoking ad, a rhetorical analysis will be applied. The advertisement, provided by The County of Orange Health Care Agency, exemplifies the horrid effects of smoking on a young, healthy, and attractive woman. The exact author is unknown, but the intended audience is anyone struggling with tobacco addiction, anyone who knows a struggling victim, or anyone who has ever considered smoking. Because the company used a woman as the smoking victim, the ad tends to appeal to women more than men. The anti-smoking ad of The County of Orange Health Care Agency uses text, composition, and color to show the serious consequences and …show more content…
Color can be used to symbolize ideas, mood, or something more abstract. Popular examples include: red symbolizing love or romance, blue associated with sincerity, and green representing nature or fertility. The County of Orange Health Care Agency uses black to exemplify death. Throughout the entire advertisement, black is skillfully utilized in many different locations. Seriousness and death are suggested through the color and size chosen. This can not only be inferred from the exact literal message but from recognizing why black is used. The viewer can then take the message even further and realize that the intended message: Smoking kills and ruins the lives of many. Black also makes numerous appearances in the woman’s face, spotted in her eyes, cheeks, teeth, and lips, and signaling the woman’s death and suffering caused by smoking. Through color, the advertisement relays a very clear message that smoking can and often will lead to suffering if not