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Robert Wright Professor Eaker English 1101-017 November 13, 2013 Rhetorical Analysis: Christian Childrens Fund (Break) The commercial I chose for my project was the Christian Childrens Fund Commercial (Break). The commercial shows us the life of children in less developed countries. The commercial began with children half clothed, with no shoes, and going through the landfills with plastic bags looking for bottles and cans to assist their family with money to purchase food. The commercial goes one step further by introducing us a little girl name Michelle. Michelle is a five year old forced to go through the trash because it is her families only mean of income to purchase food. The commercial solicits help by asking the public to do their part in giving less fortunate children an opportunity to have a meal. The commercial is title Break because the children in the less developed countries have to find unconventional ways to get food and work tirelessly throughout the day trying to find enough bottles and cans to provide them with a good meal. I chose this commercial because it has such a strong message. I remember as a seven year old watching this commercial and wondering if people really lived like that. Christian Childrens Fund was founded on October 6, 1939 as China's Children Founded by Presbyterian Minister Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke. The purpose was to aid Chinese children displaced by the Second Sino-Japanese War. As the number of wars and invasion grew in other countries besides China, so did the number of children being displaced by such events. The name was changed on February 6, 1951 to Christian Children's Fund. (Child Fund)Their belief is that it takes a collaborative efforts to substantially impact the issues of poverty that face children today.

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People are more inclined to donate their money to a cause or foundation when it has been established for a longer period of time. In addition to being established the aura of trustworthiness that surrounds Christian or Church ran organizations can be seen as credible. Generally speaking, a person sees the church as uncorrupt and know that their money is going to a good cause. Christian Childrens Fund want the viewer to know that child poverty is a huge issue, and although it is a huge issue your small donation will play the biggest part. The organization breaks the payment into daily payments of Seventy cents a day; by doing this Christian Children fund also appeal to the broader financial audience. The payments appear to be more manageable, and having less impact on the sponsors lifestyle. An average American spend that plus some on a can of soda, or a pack of gum. Your small donation is stopping a chain reaction that is caused by child poverty. Solving a problem at its lowest level alleviate the long term effects it may have. Child hunger does not stop at children poverty, it also harbors child labor and human trafficking which is why Christian Childrens Fund work close with General Assembly of the United Nations to eliminate child labor and trafficking. Christian Childrens Fund commercials tug at the heart strings of parents with children. The speaker in the commercial uses lines such as, You have probably never seen a location like this but you have seen children like this, they look like your own children. Lines like this generate questions within parents, What if that was my child? or, Would someone be able to help my child? Parents of young children want the best for their child and tend to help children like their own assisting with opportunity to become young adults, parents, and leader who will bring positive change to their communities. The narrator make the children more relatable by

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stating these children know what work is, they know what friendship is, and just like you they know what love is. Another way the narrator pulls the viewers in is by using a young female child, nothing is more innocent than a female child. Emotional ties to seeing a female children suffer make this such a strong commercial. The use of children has a stronger effect on adults because children do not chose to live that lifestyle. The reaction would not be the same if there were adults in the same environment. Although there are a lot of starving adults in the world, the majority of Americans see adults as having a choice of choosing their environment or at least having more power over it. When looking at the environment of any Christian Childrens Fund commercial the substandard living conditions is used to set the stage for a sentimental plead for help. The enormous amount of trash, the dirt road, and shacks in the background look nothing like what you and I would live in. The form of the video sets out to let the viewers know that these children are experiencing something their children dont have to go through. The children throughout the video are picking through mountains of trash looking for bottles and cans to assist there family. It is heartbreaking to know that children have to find bottle to trade in for pennies on the dollar to get a meal. One can or plastic bottle in the United States is about five cents. Michelle the little girl in the commercial would have to find 20 bottle to make a dollar. To make things more serious she is competing with other children that are much bigger than her, that are also in need of cans and water bottles. When picking through the landfills children exposing themselves to many types of microorganism and germs that can be cause sickness or even death. The environment the children live in and the means of getting a meal are nothing like ours in the United States and it is a contrast to western nations of what childhood should be. The narrator make the children relatable by making the viewer think back to a time that someone

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helped them or when they experienced hard times. The commercial is successful in reaching its intended audience by using scripts such If you have ever experienced a rough time in life, someone helped you or gave you a break by donating to the Christian Childrens Fund it is implied that this is now your turn to provide one of these less fortunate children the support you once received. As the viewers watch the commercial the thought that we all have had people in our life that want to see us do well or sponsor of some sort. These sponsors help us with life changing decisions, financial support, we also have literacy sponsors. Now image where you be without the support of your sponsor. The commercials message and the tactics they used by the organization can be seen as fair. The organization simple show you the life of a young aged girl living in poverty. The organization doesnt ask you for much for much. 1996 was a perfect time to place an ad like this on television; it was the best way at the time to spread awareness to the US population. This was also an opportune time to get people to donate as well. The economy in the US achieved high growth unemployment dipped below 5.1 percent and 1.8 million jobs had been created that year.(Office of Budget and Management) Also the World Food Summit also took place in 1996 in Rome, the conference focused high levels of political attention on the problems of chronic hunger and malnutrition that exist to some degree in all regions. One of the objectives of the World Food Summit in 1996 was to form partnerships with all actors of civil society and give special attention to promoting and protecting the interest and needs of the child, particular the girl child, in food programs, consistent with the world summit for children. (United Nations) Christian Children Fund has now changed their name to Child Fund. Although they have changed their name many of times, the organization still embodies the beliefs of Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke when he first found the organization.

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Works Cited Ways to Help Children in Need Childfund International. N.p., 6 April. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. McLauglin, Martin. Report on the World Food Summit. Hunger Notes. N.p., 1 Sept. 2002. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Annual Input-output Accounts of the U.S. Economy 1996. Ann M. Lawson and Mark A. Planting. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Jan. 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.