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Ivan Hernandez
Melisa Malvin
English 115
26 October 2015
Start Thinking About Both Sides
A picture is worth a thousand words, and all of those words knit together to create a
significant story for the viewers that will resonate differently in the viewer who sees the image.
The advertisement image that was chosen for this assignment is titled Think of Both Sides.
This advertisement tells a story from an innocent childs perspective about how a fatal car
accident came to occur. This advertisement is aimed towards the goal persuading people to listen
to the truth about car accidents and to make drivers realize that the number of car accidents are
increasing. The reasons as to why the advertisement creators created the advertisement the way
that they did can be explained through Molly Bangs book titled Picture This: How Pictures
Work, which explains how images and specific parts of an image can operate in telling a story to
evoke the emotions of the viewer. And can further be explained through Hugh Ranks
Intensifying/ Downplay in how the creators intensified their main focus and claims though the
sense of nostalgia. This advertisement is very impacting on the viewers as the image creates
vivid imagery of an actual car accident occurring, illustrates visually how car accidents occur,
and it pulls at the viewers emotions through pathos.
This advertisement was created by Red Pepper Ekaterinburg advertisement agency
located in Russia and was published on December 2013, with the intentions or bringing
awareness of car accidents. The perspective of this advertisement is that from the young boy who

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is sitting in the back row behind his parents, the boy has his head faced forward where he can see
his parents multitasking. His father is taking a call as he holds one hand on the wheel, all the
while his mother is trying to follow directions from a large map of the area in her hands, with
their eyes off the road no less. And then a boy with a backpack has walked out into the road in
front of car, the boy with the backpack turns his head and sees the rushing vehicle coming
towards him and face of fear spread across his face as there is nothing that he can do to stop or
avoid the oncoming car. Then time has frozen and the whole scene has turned into the image of
the advertisement. This type of imagery causes viewers of the advertisement to take a moment
and think about the possibilities that someone they know, or that they themselves, would be
either the driver or pedestrian in a fatal car accident and what kind of effects it would have
afterwards on the pedestrian or driver. As this image has made the viewer feel like they were
actually there in the car accident, due to the fact that the advertisement perspective is set in the
first person perspective of the image. This in turn causes the viewers to take more precautions
and awareness while they are driving out on the road, as they should. Furthermore the
advertisement manages to convey the reasons as to why most, if not all, car accidents occur with
only the scene that has been photographed.
This image illustrates visually and outlines that the reasons as to why there are increasing
amounts of car accidents without actually saying the reasons. Distractions while driving can lead
up to a fatal or near death outcome of either the driver or the pedestrian caught in the accident,
which we ourselves would not want to experience or be the cause of the car accident. The main
way the advertisement creators show the list of distractions and actions that leads up to a car
accident is through the imagery of the adults in the advertisement. This is visible as there are key
pieces of imagery that are located near the center section of the advertisement, which is where

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the viewers eyes tend to drift towards. The noted are the lack of eye sight on the road, a cell
phone held in the hand of the driver, and a large map that block out the view of the cars
windscreen. This is enforced by Molly Bangs book Picture This: How Pictures Work, when she
states that the picture contains a space all its own. We exist outside the picture until our eyes fix
on and capture an object inside it like a prey but the prey in turn draws us to itself inside the
picture space (29-30). This is important to note as the hands are the prey that are bringing out
the focus of the distractions being held, the hands show the distracting items being held and
being focused on by the people in the car. While it can also be seen that the driver only has one
hand on the steering wheel, while it has been stated by many driving instructors and handbooks
that the safest way to drive is with both hands on the ten oclock and two oclock position on the
steering wheel. There is also to take into account the fact that the two adults are taking about
either directions or are simply having a very intimate chat about a topic. The reasons as to why
car accidents occur are illustrated visually in this advertisement through the distraction and
action that take place, but it should also be note how the advertisement creators are able to pull
and tug at the emotions of the viewers through the scene created in the image through pathos.
The pathos found in the advertisement Think of Both Sides has a way of pulling at a
viewers emotions. As this advertisement points out that there are two sides to the story of a car
accident, it also pulls at the viewers sympathy for children. In Picture This: How Pictures Work
by Molly Bang, she states that the overlapping object pierces or violates the space of the
other, but this also joins them together into a single unit (Bang 31). This is the key fact as to
why the advertisement creators connected both the face of the child in the cars rearview mirror
and the body of the pedestrian who is about to be run over by the oncoming car. During a car
accident irresponsible drivers are not only putting their own child or younger relatives in danger,

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but are also other children that are either pedestrians or passengers in the other car involved in
the car accident. If this was not to be the reason then we would be able to see the complete face
of the child that is about to be hit by the driver. It's meant to make viewers realized that they need
to think of both sides. While it can be seen that the advertisement creators are using association
to pull at the viewers emotion as Hugh Ranks Intensifying/ Downplay, defines association as
what good things- already loved or desired by the intended audience- are associated with the
product? (610). As it can be seen from the tone of the advertisements fine print which states
that the number of car accidents involving children increase during school holidays. Please be
extremely careful! this is located at the bottom left of the advertisement. At the end of the fine
print in which it politely asks drivers to be extremely careful connects to the viewers memories
of that over protective parent, family member, or guardian that knows what is best and simply
wants to make sure that the viewer is driving safely. The creators of this advertisement truly
knew how to pull at the viewers heart strings as to persuade them to listen and take this topic
seriously.
Given these points it can be seen as to why Red Pepper Ekaterinburgs advertisement
Think of Both Sides is extremely powerful in terms of conveying the message and importance
of safe driving through imagery and scene they created. The advertisement shows off the various
factors that could lead up to a car accident, such as human and inanimate distractions or actions
done while driving, with simply the image created. They were able to use pathos efficiently in
their imagery, as they manipulated the human sympathy for children. And finally they were also
able to subconsciously convey the image to the viewer through association with an over
protective parent or guardian who is looking out for the viewers wellbeing. It is important for
the drivers viewing this advertisement to take action in becoming aware of their surroundings

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and focusing on not getting distracted while driving, this is a simple request that will prevent the
continuous and pointless deaths of innocent human beings.

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Works Cited
Bang, Molly. Picture This: How Pictures Work. N.p.: n.p., PDF. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
Red Pepper. Ekburg.ru: Think of Both Sides. 2013. N.p. Ads of the World. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Rank, Hugh. Intensify/ Downplay. N.p.: n.p., PDF. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.

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Dear Melisa Malvin,

My writing process this paper was more fluid and easier to come up with, as this was
more of a topic and prompt that I understood and had an actual interest in. I had created a
skeleton or outline for this essay beforehand this time as I didnt want to repeatedly use
information in other areas, while it also helped me organize my ideas and expand them out to
make full paragraphs to create the full four pages of this essay. My strength on this essay are the
examination and understanding of the image I had chosen about car accidents, as I felt like my
written description of the advertisement was up to par for detail. For my weakness in this essay
for me I believe was the use of artistic citation to back up my claims about my advertisement, as
it is harder for me to use evidence to make an for image, rather than an actual piece of written
literature. My LRC visit was very sad in my opinion as the tutor basically took chunks out of my
introduction and last body paragraph as they felt like they were off topic or drifting, but I know
that they had the best intentions in mind.

Sincerely,

Ivan Hernandez