Shelter essay

Question: How does the Shelter advert construct social and cultural attitudes towards wider issues? 

The Shelter campaign focuses on the distress caused to people who are facing poor housing conditions. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the issues of homelessness and to encourage anyone to seek help who may need it as the advert is targeting anyone who is at the risk of becoming homeless. They also encourage people to donate to the charity so that they are able to help others. The advert aims to make the audience feel responsible for the issues of homelessness and that this issue involves everyone. It also tries to make the audience feel empathy for the individuals who are being affected by this, encouraging donations. 

Each photo on the advert has a close up of everyone's face, making the ad seem more personal and emotional. It also creates a sense of realism within the people by showing that this is a real problem that millions of people deal with every day, and they need help. The red typography suggests that this problem is taking over their lives as it is written across their faces. The bright red colors also help get the message across by suggesting that they are in a dangerous situation and urgently need your help. This makes the audience feel; sympathy for these individuals as we can tell that they are suffering and it is not their fault that they are in this situation. 

The advert represents homelessness as something that could happen to anyone because this advert shows a variety of vulnerable people to challenge the stereotype of typical homeless people by showing that this problem can affect anyone. They use emotional phrases that go across their faces such as “I can't face it” and “But where will we live?”. These phrases emphasize how much these people are struggling and how vulnerable they have become. It also creates identification within the audience as it encourages people to seek the help they need. 

Since the advert shows a range of people, it then reflects many issues that can lead to homelessness such as job loss, debt and inequality instead of the stereotypical reasons such as addiction, drug dealers and lazy people who do not want to work. This then raises awareness for things like job loss as it is happening more frequently and putting many people in that position. This then promotes moral and social responsibility as it shows how anyone can become homeless no matter what their background is like, and we are all responsible for these issues. It presents homelessness as a structural problem that is nobody's fault, instead of something that you only have yourself to blame for. 

Overall, Shelter's main message is that we must take action in our responsibilities so we can help solve the issues of homelessness by raising awareness and speaking up. It encourages the audience to feel empathy for these people and be more aware of this issue, so that if it happens to them or someone they know, they will then know how to get help with it. It also convinces people to donate to this charity as the ad is very personal and emotional, bringing everyone into it.  It also reinforces the importance of collective responsibility, as the issue of homelessness is everybody's fault and it is not just blamed on the person it is happening too.