TOW #27: Give Blood (Visual Text)

With a student-council-sponsored blood drive coming up soon at Wissahickon, I decided to look at some Red Cross “give blood” posters for my TOW. Also, I am entirely out of good TOW ideas. The Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides assistance in the case of disaster or emergency. They often hold blood drives in which average American citizens can help the American Red Cross to help others through the donation of blood. Naturally, the idea of giving blood is not extremely appealing to most people, so the Red Cross must make their mission clear in posters, and use persuasive methods to get people to donate.

In this particular poster, the focal point is two band-aids, crossed over the center padded part to make a cross, similar in shape to the red cross symbol. The image shows that something very simple can make a big difference. In other words, the donor gets a band-aid, a fix to a small injury, and that small injury can help the Red Cross fix a much bigger injury in a person who really needs the help. The image is powerful in this sense. To accompany this image are two italicized words: “Give blood.” The short sentence emphasizes the power of the image, as its simplicity implies that all that needs to be said has been said already. The emotional appeal of the image in combination with the two words below make it effective. If one requires more information, there is a short paragraph below the image and the two words that describes the aim of blood donation. Using pronouns likes “we,” the American Red Cross includes the potential blood donors in one unit of people, creating a sense of togetherness that works for emotional persuasion. The paragraph also addresses the impact that the blood will have: “When we come together, we can become part of something bigger than us all.” Most people ultimately strive to be part of something bigger, whether that is some advancement of mankind, or a community, or a club, people love to feel they have a greater purpose. The idea that giving blood can make a person part of something larger makes it more appealing even to the queasy, like me. Thus, I believe, the poster was rather effective.

(for poster, see 2007 APELC synthesis question)