Show, Don’t Tell

The message I want to convey through this advertisement relates to one of the simplest, yet
the most fundamental qualities in human relations, and it is to be kinder and more empathetic
towards one another. We – humans that praise ourselves to be the most advancing forms of
social animals, using numerous tools of communication between one another, have shifted
towards living in a world of hiding behind screens and became more and more passive. We
no longer feel the urgent need to seek face-to-face interactions, provided that we have the
convenience of keeping in touch through our devices. Furthermore, becoming progressively
ego-centric and self-absorbed has not come at no cost; on the contrary, there has been an
ongoing tendency of people, forgoing opportunities to help others, thinking that others will
take care of the matter. Quite frankly, it is sad to see hungry homeless people on the streets,
or people in need of medical help, being overlooked or disregarded by bystanders. It is
particularly because of the bystander effect that I chose to focus the advertisement on how to
set an example for others to follow.

The ad will be pretty short so as to accommodate it to the short attention span of most people.
It will show a few different occasions where parents, along with their kids, stop by to help
people in need, hence the title of the advertisement. Setting an example and showing others
how something is done is the proper way to go, instead of teaching social behavior and
humane manners and not complying with them yourself, when it comes down to it. The short
video will be played on digital posters on bus stops, where people stop by for longer periods
of time, thus, having the chance to watch the whole ad, as well as digital billboards near gas
stations and crowded areas around the city for the similar reasons.

My main aim is to obviously make people more involved with the struggles of others,
thereby, prompting them to take proper action. It is high time we realized that as the most
evolutionarily advanced species, it is us and only us who can help each other. In fact, I
believe such advertisement has not yet been created due to the fact that most people don’t
even take notice of this issue. It has become so deeply enrooted in us to rely on others for
action, that we perceive it as normality, thereby failing to address this problem and work on
it.

I believe that if the advertisement is indeed created, it will set off a slow but steady change
and once the change occurs, it will grow in a cumulative manner shortly thereafter. Of course,
I am going forward with the idea with a dose of skepticism as many thoughtful
advertisements often go unnoticed or do not yield the success they aimed for. Yet, I believe
that even if few out of many people, who watch the advertisement, teach their kids to help
others by setting a role model, a change will definitely come soon after as those very kids will
turn into the medium of change by repeatedly setting on example for their peers.