This billboard was donated by Bishop Robert J. Hermann on July 16, 2009. They set up all of these Pro-life Billboards along highways in Missouri with a number that you can call. These billboards are put up by an organization called “Our Lady of Guadalupe For Life” that tries to send out a message to all women who are considering abortion. The image shown above sends out a strong message to its viewers to not have abortions and keep their children. This billboard’s image sends out a strong message because it is talking about abortion and religion. The children symbolize the abortion part and the Virgin de Guadalupe signifies the religion portion. This image can have a strong sentimental message to a person because of the religious aspect, for the fact that when they first view this image they see the Virgin de Guadalupe and may think that abortion is unholy. It definitely makes women who are thinking of having an abortion think twice about the decision they are about to make.
The ethos in this picture is very effective. The creators of this billboard let the viewers’ know what message they are trying to send out in a very clear way. This billboard was donated by a religious organization who tries to help women who are considering abortion. The Catholic religion does not view abortion as something proper that should be done. Abortion is definitely frowned upon in the Catholic community. The way that they do this is by including the Virgin de Guadalupe in the billboard. This immediately lets the viewer know that this is a religious message, and the way that he informs us about abortion is by using written text saying “love your babies... born and unborn.” The texts alone are very powerful words, because abortion is a very sensitive topic to talk about. The creators of this billboard knew just exactly what image they wanted to send out to the public. Obviously, the message is that woman should not have abortions because religious organizations might view it as a sin. All the images on the billboard go with the message that our Lady of Guadalupe is for life. The images of the babies, the texts, and the Virgin de Guadalupe are large scales. They might have done this so that it catches the viewers’ attention as soon as they lay eyes on it. The text is short but makes you understand the purpose of the billboard.
The pathos that our Lady of Guadalupe for life creates can be a very emotional one for women. This billboard targets woman letting them know to not have abortions, and of course, to love their babies and make the right decision. Also it impacts woman who might have already had an abortion and this can be an emotional issue to them. The fact that it also ties in religion adds an even stronger message. Woman might think that because they had an abortion they might have sin in the eyes of god. These are all things emotional feelings that this billboard can create. The text as well means something that the baby should have his own voice and should be able to have the choice to live. They managed to get the point across with such short and strong texts. The fact that they say “love your babies… born and unborn” can make a woman feel that because they aborted they did not love their baby. This billboard can be very controversial for the religious message that they are setting. But our lady of Guadalupe for life states in their website that they set these billboards to help woman out. To encourage woman to call the number on the billboard, and to be pro-life and to give their baby a chance in life. At the same time not all people have the same views as the organization does. Some people might take this billboard very offensive for the emotional message that they convey.
The type of logos that the image portrays is that if you are a religious person then you have to believe what the billboard says. How if you believe in the Virgin de Guadalupe then you should agree with the message and not have abortions. Also how hey tie in the babies and the Virgin de Guadalupe together. They use babies and the Virgin de Guadalupe to tie in some sort of sentimental value. How if you are having an abortion and giving up a baby’s life you are committing some type of sin. One thing that a viewer can say about this billboard is that love should not be determined whether the baby is born or not. The mother of the child could have had some type of personal reason why they got the abortion. Just because you have an abortion should not mean that the women who see this billboard should feel like they sinned.
This billboard was constructed properly. All the elements in the picture seem to go with one another. They get their point across quickly, which is good because drivers do not have a lot of time to view a billboard. Without the text that the billboard has the viewers would have a hard time understanding the message that our lady of Guadalupe for life is trying to convey.
