Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is a huge problem all across America, and it is one of the main consequences of having unprotected sex. This PSA is about just that. The organization that is sponsoring this ad is The Candie’s Foundation. This organization is a non-profit one whose primary goal is to shape the way young people in America view teen pregnancy and parenthood. Their main message for young people is to “Pause Before You Play”, which means to pause to think about your future and the consequences of having sex at that young of an age. They feel that the messages they put across in numerous types of media about this issue will expose teens to the reality of it, and that the messages will encourage them to delay pregnancy and even sexual activity. The Candie’s Foundation feels that a part of the reason they are successful is because they share their content with organizations around the world that then use the content in prevention programs. They use many different print ads and also video ads, but this one is quite effective. The purpose of this PSA sponsored by The Candie’s Foundation is to convince the readers to pause and think about the consequences before having sex by the use of celebrities in the visual, contrast in brightness, and the use of text.

The PSA uses celebrities to build ethos in the readers to convince them to make the right decision in delaying sex until they are ready and able to take care of a child. In the image, a band named Fall Out Boy is depicted to the left. By using this celebrity band to endorse the ad, it convinces the readers to pause and think before they act. This appeals to the readers’ ethos by giving them a sense of credibility. Many young people across America love and respect this band. Fall Out Boy has a strong following and is a well-known band. The organization knows this and uses them effectively. They are depicted to the left of the visual in black and white. They are in a bright area of the picture compared to most of the PSA. Everyone in the band also has serious looks on their faces because of how serious the issue of teen pregnancy is. For the young people who listen to this band, it gives them a serious side of Fall Out Boy. The readers get a sense of reality by this and see that these celebrities really care about this issue. Without the use of these influential figures in this visual, readers would not get a sense of credibility from the PSA and treat it like some random people telling them that this is an issue. The readers might not consider this a serious issue without the band in the picture. However, by using these celebrities in the PSA, the readers feel more comfortable and willing to pause before they have sex because of the reliable message from the band.

In addition to the use of the celebrities, the PSA also uses contrast brightness to point out the main elements of the message. Other than the left side with the figures being brighter, the stroller

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