Review of Messages

The first message is designed to induce fear, by portraying a woman tanning while a funeral is in procession around her. The message is a reminder to all that being in the sun will likely kill you, unless you take the proper precautions.

The second message gives a very detailed explanation of why being protected from the sun is crucial, along with other important information such as the role skin tone and hair color play, and how men and women are affected differently. The message also includes a variety of methods to stay safe, and uses logic as a way to get people to adopt this behavior.

The final message is a reminder for people to stay safe in the sun. The information is not new so its not trying to educate people, but remind them instead. The graphics and the captions are there to grab the attention of the viewer, and to persuade them to wear sunscreen, without having to think about it in depth.

Simple Message: Play Safe, Save Your Life

This is a message from MLB and the National Council Skin Cancer Prevention. The message is a reminder to be safe in the sun, when spending time outside. There are a number of distractors in this advertisement, mainly graphics and pictures, but also captions reminding people about skin cancer (ex: "It could Save Your Life")

Central Route Message: Melanoma and You

This message is a very in-depth explanation of melanoma, and how dangerous it is. There is alot of information in this message, for the reader to absorb and learn from.

Fear Inducing Message: You Are Killing Yourself

The message in this ad is that there is a real risk of dying from melanoma if one chooses to spend time in the sun, without sun protection. There is a way to protect oneself from this occurrence (unlike the girl in the example who is "as good as dead") by using sunscreen, and "sun proofing oneself."