A Price On Life

The picture above is rather gruesome, isn't it? What you see here is merely an ad from PETA. For those who don't know, PETA is a well-known organization against animal cruelty. The ad clearly sends out the image of "What if humans or what if you were treated like animals?; What if you were raised just so someone's family could enjoy a nice homecooked meal by the fireplace?"

Looking closely at the label "Human Meat", you will see statistics such as "55 billion killed per year" and "billions of animals abused and violently killed..." 55 billion killed per year? That's a lot, right? This part of the ad appeals to one's logic, also known as logos. Many people like and believe logic, so they use that to persuade people to stray away from meat. The less you eat meat, the less innocent animals are killed. Makes sense, right?

Even though it's hard to see, there is a link to a website. This link actually does work and if you type it in, it'll lead you to Animal Liberation Victoria's website. Like PETA, they are also an organization against animal cruelty. Having put they're website on the label for those who are interested in vegetarianism and veganism is the use of ethos. Remember that PETA also uses this ad. So that's two big, well-known organizations endorsing this ad. And within these organizations there are millions of people from famous celebs to moms and dads. They put to the credibility of not just celebrities, but also normal, working people to help endorse in their beliefs. "If celebs are against animal cruelty, I should, too. If all of these average citizens are against it, I should, too." These are the kind of thoughts they try to convey by using ethos.

Having said all that, this ad mainly appeals to one rhetoric: pathos. Pathos is the appeal to one's emotions. Quite obviously, there is a dead girl carelessly packaged, blood and all. This entire image causes thoughts such as "What if humans were treated like animals? Would you treat your pets like this? What did they ever do to you?" Thoughts like these causes negative emotions of wrong-doing. People begin to think eating meat and such is wrong and they put a stop to it. Well, some do anyway. Treat others as you wish to be treated, right? Don't want to be eaten? Don't eat meat. This ad seems to say a little more than just that, though. If you look closely, you can see that the girl is wearing make-up and jewelry. Her hair is done, too. This makes it seem as though she was killed unexpectedly. She was just going about and then...BAM! PETA and ALV conveys to us that animals killed for consumption are also taken by surprise. On the label, it also says "Product of Cruelty" in almost unreadable print to the bottom left. I believe this explains all the blood still present on the girl. Everyone should have noticed the price tag by now, right? $785 for a human? Really? That seems to be a low price for human life. Come to think of it, pork and ham is pretty cheap, too. Is life that cheap? I think this may be the significance of the price tag.

So can one put a price on life? I don't know. That's all up to you. Is eating meat wrong? I don't think so. But others think it is. It's all a matter of opinion. Bare in mind, this is only an analysis of the ad. I only interpreted what I saw. Comment on anything related to this topic and ask questions. Do it...or I'll eat more meat.

Source: http://musiciansdesk.blogspot.com/2010/08/price-on-life.html