Tow #5 Visual Text Analysis: Words Kill Wars

In this week's TOW, I chose a Japan based advertisement agency, Oglivy and Mather, who made a new campaign for ADOT along with other advertisements to present the same idea, against the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Some of the most complex and powerful messages, are most effectively captured in simple words. Words kill wars, a message that has been used for centuries to try to stop, even reason, a war. During this time when this advertise was made, Ukraine and Russia were in a major conflict. How Ukraine was involved in this conflict is because their government decided not the sign the agreement with the European Union in fall of the year 2013. This agreement was not solely a trade agreement, but also a political agreement that committed Ukraine to certain European values and principles. Not long after there was a regime change, from then on, the opportunity to fight corrupted. The west Ukraine region has closer knit ties with Europe, and the East region, larger than the west, is closer with Russia because of their wide industrialization and expanding urbanization. Russia shares a broad history with Ukraine, at one point, banning trade and imports with Ukraine. Ukraine shares the fact that five out of every six people speak Russian, showing how the cultures have mixed together throughout the years. With the two countries being so close and their cultural and social ways of living collide, it was inevitable that the two would be caught in a conflict. The conflict itself has become a world-wide concern, mainly because of how many people had protested and threatened the president. With protests, riots, sounds of weapons constantly going off, the citizens who are caught in between are scared and helpless. While constantly being terrified to leave their homes, people don't want to add more to the violence than adding more fuel to the flame. Oglivy and Mather understand that those individuals who are in terror and are under a lot of economical pressure, and create a solution to how they can extend their voices and be heard. Words are heard, sometimes more than violence. After talking and constantly arguing back an worth, the Ukrainian president had decided to look further into the European Union, allowing for the violence to simmer down. With this image portraying pathos, I believe it is an effective advertisement.