On the Decline

The World Wildlife Fund is a conservation organization and their mission is "to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.”

In 2008, the WWF had a number of different agencies from around the world come up with thought and emotion-provoking ads. The ones they deemed the most impressionable were given the WWF stamp and were released. One that really caught my attention was titled “Evolution.” It portrays the usual monkey to human transformation, but with an interesting twist. After the “man” character, meant to depict humans like us, there are two more “man” characters, but instead of “walking” on a slight increase, they are walking down. The last character is almost up to his hips in water.

At first glance, the ad’s argument is slightly confusing. At a closer glance it’s still confusing. Since humans have all the power, they are obviously the ones that need to work towards this state of harmony. So what does the man going down into the water say? Since there’s barely any text in the ad, it can be read two different ways. The WWF wants harmony. One could say the man going into the water is a visible representation of harmony, an attempt to reach equilibrium. Instead, of being on a higher level than animals, this ad can argue that we need to be on the same level.

However, another person could look at this same ad and interpret it in a completely different way. Instead of the water being a positive symbol, it could represent the metaphorical drowning of the human race. Drowning from what though? It’s important to not forget that the WWF wants a harmonious relationship between humans and the environment. Therefore, they are most likely sending a warning through this ad. If we don’t work to protect other creatures and the environment, humans will suffer. While this may seem like a stretch, especially because the ad itself doesn't have any animals in it, based on the WWF’s goals as an organization, this makes total sense.

This ad visually catches people’s attention because there’s little text, and most people recognize the “evolution” image. This ad perfectly speaks to its audience, human beings. People care way more about issues when those issues have the capability of affecting themselves or people they care about. This ad is overtly showing the decline of the human race. It’s covertly screaming the message that humans need to get their shi+ together and start taking care of the environment or else we’re going to suffer horribly. Whether that method is successful is up in the air. While the ad certainly captures people’s attention, is that enough to motivate them to do something about it?

"WWF - Endangered Species Conservation." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.