I know from personal experience that teenagers like to walk around with headphones in our ears. We get to relax to our favorite jam and block out the world while looking cool at the same time. I'm often walking around school plugged into my music, and it's not too dangerous. However, when crossing roads or walking on the sidewalks, it's a different story. This advertisement by the Pedestrian Council of Australia urges people to be more aware of the surrounding traffic by using a specific character in the advertisement and powerful symbolism.
The girl on the face of the advertisement was not arbitrarily chosen. The Pedestrian Council of Australia chose a specific person, a young and beautiful women, in order to evoke the emotion of its audience. If the person on the road was a grungy man in a ripped and nasty sweatshirt with a green mohawk and a Mike Tyson tattoo on his face, I don't think many people will feel much sympathy for that man. Nothing against those kind of people, but that's society. But when the subject is a pretty, young women, it appeals to the aesthetic element of the advertisement. The women is wearing a clean white shirt, bringing the idea of purity. People will feel sympathy and uneasiness when this sort of character is lying on the streets, further contributing to the Pedestrian Council of Australia's purpose.
In addition, the girl seems to have earphones on. The audience instantly understands the message; this girl must have had earphones on while she was on the streets and got hit by a car. That in itself is somewhat powerful, but the impact of the entire advertisement can be seen with closer look of the earphones. Those are no earphones. That's blood. Crimson red blood is streaming down the girls neck, symbolizing earphones. With that, the audience is hit with a wave of shock and reality that this girl is most likely dead. The shape of the blood reminds the audience that earphones can cause this type of death and discourages use of them on the streets.
The use of a beautiful women and the shape of the blood as earphones allows this advertisement to drive its audience with it's message that people need to be aware of their surroundings, especially in a place where traffic may end your life. It discourages the use of earphones and steers people into the proper direction of safety.
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