Well, well do have a close look at this. This was taken from the Singapore Police Force Crime Prevention News Letter. This was put up in conjuction with the recent festive seasons whereby there are a higher chances for drink driving to occur.
This poster was put in place, to warn people, not to drink and drink. This is suppose to reach out to the masses. It is relevant to all the different cultures in Singapore, as it mostly common across all of them to consume alcohol during social festive gatherings. Furthermore, being in a collectivist cultural society, it's no doubt that many people would take part in social drinking in a group, rather than to be left out. As in such a cultural society, we practised high level of conformity and readiness to coporate with members around us. Nevertheless, being in set in such a difficult position, it's not wrong to take a few drinks, but the key is not to drive after that. Even though, there are many who drives to the venue with the intentions of not consuming any alcohol, but end up taking on a few drinks. These are the people who shouldn't be driving back. And because we are in such a high context cultural society, whereby politness and 'face-saving' precedes over the truth, and people always say that they are not drunk, and can drive back. This usually leads to fatal accidents.
The advertisement here uses the concept of pathos to appeal to the viewers emotions, on the fatality in an accident. The potraying of the victim drenched in blood attempts to scare most people that this could be what would happen to them if they drink and drive. Thus by inducing fear, the police force hope that this image would be imprinted on the driver's minds when they wish to drive after drinking, hoping that it would deter their actions. Besides, you can find these posters everywhere, at bus stops, train stations and malls. Thus with such high frequency, it's also naturally that peole would select this poster to see over others, and remember it better. A high level of gore and blood is used to show the intensity of fatality and danger involved in drink driving, which is what the police force wants to tell the public. If we do take a more in depth look into the figure and ground of the poster. Whereby the figure, is the accident victim which exerts most of the influence, and the ground is a scene of where the accident actually took place. But why is the scene so blurry? Well, this is because it wishes to potray how the road or surroundings would look to a person under the influence of alcohol. At the same time, to show the fast movement effect, on probably the tremendous speed at which the car was travelling. We can also see part of the wreckage in the back ground.
One thing that appeals to me, and to most of us, is the use of the term bloody mary. It appeals to our logic here. Whereby bloody mary is an alocoholic drink, at the same time, it also describes a woman with blood on her. So, in the poster, they use a lady that is involved in the accident and stains her with blood. They call her bloody mary, at the same time, they use the fact that she consumed the alcoholic drink bloody mary that caused her tragedy. As a result, being aware of the alcoholic drink, our cognitive schemata aka our brain would be generally link it to the reason why the lady ended up to be so bloody. Therefore, I am sure that many of us would have a deep impression of this. And of course, the words on the poster explains it all, using a intensity of vocab that one don't normally use in everyday conversations to warn the public.
Well, other than bloody mary, Singapore Sling is one of the all time favourite cocktails here. Though I am now imagining what they can do with that term, and what would be the result of the poster.Hmm, a singaporean flying out from the car upon impact and landing on a hammock sling concidentally? LOL..I don't know...just my wild imagination. Good nite folks.. Don't have nightmares because of her...