Perceptions

Just a few days ago as i learnt about perception and influences on perception, it suddenly struck me on how it applies to our lives. We can even see vividly the use of perception in advertisements. A very good example would be a series of TVC’s by Singapore Prisons.  (Unable to lay my hands on the TVC’s, i have only 2 images that might help you recall the TVC itself.)

The first TVC starts out depicting a man with a fully tattooed arm; slowly, he sharpens the blade on the knife he’s holding. When we see this, we begin to imagine how he’s probably a gangster, preparing his equipment for an up coming duel. Where did we get this information from?

It is not said why he sharpens his knife so we use our what we know , our personal constructs, to try to infer and decipher what he is doing. Based on what we know, which happens to be highly influenced by the media and our surroundings, perceptions can often lead us to make wrong judgements. Just as towards the end of the TVC, the man turns around with his sharpened knife and begins to carve vegetables in a restaurant kitchen. Only then do we find out we were too quick to judge thus making wrong judgements.

The point of the TVC, is to get people to change their perceptions about ex-convincts who have been released. And as part of the yellow ribbon project, help them integrate into society once again. But how then is depicting a man with an arm full of tattoo’s going to change our perception? Doesn’t it further emphasise and give us wrong impressions that men with tattoos are all bad, criminals and probably convicts? The media highlights information that sometimes may not be reality.

The second TVC also starts out in a similar way, with a guy, big and buff, full of tattoos, he slowly walks towards a kindergarden with lots of kids. Its after school and the teacher stands outside with the kids. The scene is set at the school gate where the teacher stands outside with the children waiting for their parents to pick them up. As the tattooed man approaches, the teacher puts on a frightened expression and trys to keep the children behind her protecting them from any unforseen harm that he could pose. Similarly to the first ad, one would think that the tattooed man is of a violent background.

Toward the end of the TVC, a lady approaches the man and they both walk forward to the school gate together. A child then steps forward and calls out “Daddy! Mummy!”. This similary depicts how we humans have the tendancy to make judgments too quickly but at the same time as mentioned earlier, uses a tattooed man to instill fear in the teacher.

Does this message then communicate well its intended message? I believe it does put across the message that we are too quick to judge and that we should change the way we think. This would then help integrate former convicts back into society easily. But on the other hand, it instills the mentality that tattooed men are likely to be bad Is this then sending across right information? It is probably very subjective but i do not agree with them using tattooed men as subjects representing ex-convicts.