Shelter Essay

Shelter is a charity which helps people who are struggling with bad housing or homelessness. The 3 models (2 women and a man) are fearful of losing their homes. All the models have a close-up shot of their faces, which are all in misery and despair. They are all giving direct addresses to the audience which portrays how desperately they need the community's help to maintain their homes.  The words that are written on the advert explains the different scenarios individuals can go into for them to lose their accommodations. For example, a person lost their job but that doesn't mean they can lose their homes with the help of Shelter. Additionally, debt and being a tenant are other examples of people using the charity. All 3 of the adverts carry out a single headline which shares the viewer the desperation the person is feeling. By individuals reaching out to them, the charity solves their problem in any scenario and have left thousands of individuals or families with smiles on their faces knowing that they won't be homeless. The charity is a direct response to Cameron's coalition government (CSR) cutting its funding for social housing by 60% which has a catastrophic effect on people who have previously depended on affordable and secure social housing which is provided by the council and housing associations and has a fixed rent. Shelter said that the CSR is "prepared to deny responsibility for ensuring that people can access decent, secure, affordable housing. A recent study has found out that 50% of people do not seek external advice when they encounter housing difficulties, therefore, Shelter tries to prevent that from happening and for the charity to resonate with people experiencing these problems and tap into their concerns, which is them seeking advice on the Shelter website. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the regulatory body for adverts in the UK. It is in their absolute power for them to pull any adverts that have been complained by a member of the public or a company. All adverts have set strict rules they must follow such as not containing comparisons to other charities, not addressing any fundraising message specifically at children, respecting the dignity of those no whose behalf an appeal is being made and the list goes on. The Shelter adverts achieve this by the models being respected of them volunteering to share their disappointing stories to the public however they also illustrate how Shelter is there to help those that are in threat of becoming homeless.