An Impact?

This is my report for my English class, the goal was to analyze an ad talk about its deeper meaning. So when you read this think about you can see the ad here (this isn't the ad but its close enough)

Impact
Product Red has a successful ad campaign for Converse shoe company. Product Red is a company that was started by U2’s Bono to help raise awareness to the mass public. The whole idea is that every time that an item is bought of Product Red design 5%-40% will be donated to the Global Fund. Product Red has four ad campaigns going on right now, the most popular and recognized is Converse. Together their ad promises that you can buy something that you need and help people while sacrificing nothing. The ad assures that you do not have to leave your comfort zone to help people half a world away. Every day our minds are bombarded with the idea that all we have to do to help people is buy a certain product and then we are done with our part.
When the ad is first glanced at the first thing you notice is the white Converse shoe with the words Combat Boot written across it. If the ad is studied a little deeper, you notice that the shoe is on a star. The star is also the same one that is on the shoe and as a tattoo on the person’s hand. These three stars on the floor, shoe, and hand represent that the person (little star) wants to make an impact, who by buying the Product Red Converse (medium star) makes an impact. The shoe is located on a star pattern that symbolizes that since the person has bought, the shoe he makes an impact, on which he started a chain reaction of people buying Product Red Converse shoes to help people in Africa. Even in the background, you see quarter inch cables and a bass guitar. Product Red is trying to appeal to the music crowd, trying to show that even musicians are cool because they wear Product Red Converse. The whole point of this ad is about the shoe, showing that the shoe is what makes the impact, convincing people that all they have to do is buy the shoe to help.
Purchasing the Converse is a good way to start helping the epidemic in Africa, but the point needs to be raised, that it can not and should not be the only way. There are two problems with this ad; the first is that it helps enforce the idea that you do not have to give up something to help. The whole purpose for this ad is that you can get something you need without feeling guilty. The ad focuses on the point that we all feel the need to help, but we do not want to have any discomfort in our own lives to help people. The second problem is that the sole purpose of the ad is to get you to buy the Converse shoe. The idea behind Product Red is great because it’s a way of showing your support to help fight Aids in Africa. It is a great start, but that is all it can be. Your support for Africa shouldn’t be limited to shirts, shoes and I-Pods. This ad should help motivate you to do more than just by shoes. We should use the talents that are given to us and help those that are less fortunate then we are.
Buying Product Red Converse shoes is a great start to helping a horrible situation in Africa, but we need to realize that it should only be a start. If we have the mindset that to help people, all we have to do is buy something that we already need, then realistically we’ve already lost the battle. We all need to step up and realize, that only by buying something we are not really helping. We need to change our minds and hearts.