15 Most impactful ads on social issues

In today’s world, people seem to see advertisements as something used by companies to invade their homes and forcing them to buy their products. But sometimes advertisements also tend to take up issues that many if us might ignore or turn our heads on seeing them. The advertisements on this list are brilliant samples of actual advertising policies for social issue promotions that let their voices be heard.

A well-made and well thought advertisement is intended to attract your attention and tend to etch a place in your memory and that is precisely what these social causes need. If these advertisements get people to think and worry about numerous social and conservational issues, they will be successful in their conception as people will become aware of these issues and some of them will come forward to make a change.

Take a look at the following 15 advertisement and you will come to know what real advertising means.

1 Torture victims are like you and me

We think that people who get tortured by their peers, known ones or terrorists must have done something wrong in order to warrant that punishment.

Various enforcement agencies make use of torture in order to get information out of a criminal and though it might seem viable to do so, in fact it is not and we need to abolish torture altogether.

2 Stop drinking and driving

This is one powerful way to demonstrate the consequences of drinking and driving. By doing so you are not only putting your life in danger, but the lives of many other people who are either driving on the same road as you are or walking on the pavement besides the road.

One wrong turn or maneuverer will cost you dearly. So do not drink and drive.

3 Saving wild life needs funding

This advertisement shows scenario of what is more terrifying, a shark in the ocean or none of them in the ocean, thanks to extensive fishing either for their fins, which are used in many food recipes.

Sharks are caught and their fins are cut off. Then the remaining alive body of the shark is thrown back into the ocean. As sharks cannot swim without their fins, they drown and die. The advertisement tells that saving life also needs funds and is on the behalf of the WWF (World Wide Fund for nature).

4 Don’t stereotype based on color of skin

This advertisement condemns the stereotyping of people based on their skin color. One’s future should not be dependent on what your skin color is and what race you belong to.

One should be free to do whatever he/she wants and no one should dictate that based on any thing.

5 Slower is better than dead

This advertisement sponsored by Elm Grove Police Department shows the number of days in hospital you might have to spend equivalent to the speed at which you drive.

This is one strong message to people that one should drive responsibly and slowly as it is better to be late than dead.

6 Air pollution kills more than 60,000 people every year

This ad put up by NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) depicts that air pollution is killing more than 60,000 people a year.

It shows that the rise of industries and pollution due to their processes is making the air we breathe polluted and harmful to us leading to various illnesses and ailments that can be fatal.

7 Just liking on social media won’t help, be the change you can be

This ad reflects our apathy towards serious issues that happen all around the world. Mostly when someone forwards us these kinds of images, we merely like them on our social media accounts and share them.

But if we really want to make some change, we have to ourselves get involved in humanitarian programs and donate either money, things or time for solving these issues.

8 Don’t drive and use mobile

One of the best campaigns ran by the Bangalore Police in order to make the public aware of the consequences of using a mobile phone while driving.

A mobile despite being a boon to us, becomes a bane when you use it while driving. It distracts you from actually focussing on the driving and this can cause a fatal crash.

9 Each minute counts: every minute a species dies out

This ad campaign features the effects of hunting, poaching and habitat destruction of many species due to deforestation which causes many species to go extinct or become critically endangered.

10 Sexual predators stay in your child’s smartphone

This strong campaign on sexual predators and how to find them and keep your children safe is a brilliant play on the famous Where’s Waldo theme.

You need to keep your children closer to you when you venture out in crowded places in order to keep them safe form people who might take inappropriate advantage of them and also might harm them.

11 Keep the sea clean

We need to stop dumping our waste in the oceans and seas because we also get our food form the same place. Now would you like your tuna and or oysters to have plastic in them or your fish taste like rubber.

So keep the sea clean in order to keep your food healthy and safe for consumption.

12 Save forests

We depend on trees and plants for providing oxygen, but if we keep cutting down our forests in roder to fuel our industries or make paper, down the line in future, it will become difficult for us to even breathe.

And as they say, “When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money.”

13 Use seat belts

Seat belts were invented by engineer Nils Bohlin who worked at Volvo company and the company decided not to patent the design so that other automobile companies can use it for free and by doing so, Volvo forego billions of dollars in rights money in order to save lives.

But if you don’t wear you seat belt while driving or sitting in the passenger seat, you are defeating the purpose of the person who invented it for your safety. Not wearing a seat belt can be fatal in case you crash your car, as you could sustain serious injuries and even get thrown out of the moving car due to the impact.

14 Feeding the hungry is easy. Just try to help

We always think that we should do something to help the ones who need the most. But most of the item we run away from the responsibility because it may be too expensive to help someone.

You can feed a hungry person easily by foregoing some luxuries that you are fortunate to enjoy and instead buy a hot meal or food products for people who eat at soup kitchens or the homeless and elderly person on the corner of your street.

You can donate a can of beans or a loaf of bread which will feed may be 2-3 children who try their best to get even one morsel of food.

15 Plastic bags kill and boycott foie gras

These haunting and hard hitting campaigns by 2 different agencies are actually similar in conception. One talks about how the increased use of plastic in our day to day life is proving harmful for marine animals as most of our plastic is dumped into the sea and how these animals consume them or are strangled by them.

Second one is actually asking the people to boycott the culinary dish of foie gras. This dish is made using the liver of a duck or goose .the process involves force feeding the duck and enlarging its liver by 10 times in order to gain more meat.

The ducks or gooses are kept in cages with only their mouths freed and people stuff and force food down their beaks and they are tortured into eating 4-5 times a day. It is a cruel process and thought the dish dates back to 2500 BC, animal welfare groups condemn the consumption of this dish, as the way it is prepared and the handling of ducks and gooses borders on animal cruelty.