“When you smoke, your baby smokes,” reads the small, faint gray text below the image in this advertisement. “Smoking while pregnant causes birth defects, brain damage, and regret. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit vtquitnetwork.org.” The source at the bottom, Vermont Department of Health, is hardly visible. While the text summarizes the purpose of the advertisement quite well, it is definitely not the focus of the image. Being smaller, fainter, and near the bottom of the ad, it is actually more of an afterthought. It is a confirmation that yes, the baby in the photo represents a fetus consuming second-hand smoke. The photo I chose to analyze is simple. There are no faces to express emotion, and no colors but black and white. The character in the advertisement is not even a real person. It is simply a cloud of smoke forming the shape of an unborn child.
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It is not difficult to recognize what the image is trying to communicate. A trail of illuminated smoke flows downward in a curved line from the top of the picture. The trail wisps and twirls and creates the form of a baby, particularly an unborn fetus. The trail of smoke forms what appears to be an umbilical cord and appears to glow against the clear, black background. When I saw the image, it set forth a chain of emotions. It is the type of photo that makes you stop in your tracks, forget about where and who you are for a brief moment, and think. The issue of smoking during pregnancy seems to most of us so immoral that we do not understand why it happens at all. One of the reasons for the issue is that mothers are not fully aware of how smoking can affect their unborn children. With advertisements similar to this one, and raised awareness, hopefully more expecting mothers are finishing their last
It is not difficult to recognize what the image is trying to communicate. A trail of illuminated smoke flows downward in a curved line from the top of the picture. The trail wisps and twirls and creates the form of a baby, particularly an unborn fetus. The trail of smoke forms what appears to be an umbilical cord and appears to glow against the clear, black background. When I saw the image, it set forth a chain of emotions. It is the type of photo that makes you stop in your tracks, forget about where and who you are for a brief moment, and think. The issue of smoking during pregnancy seems to most of us so immoral that we do not understand why it happens at all. One of the reasons for the issue is that mothers are not fully aware of how smoking can affect their unborn children. With advertisements similar to this one, and raised awareness, hopefully more expecting mothers are finishing their last