The West and the Rest : En undersökning av SOS Barnbyars sätt att porträttera utsatta i reklamfilmer

Authors: Karin Lindberg & Erika Losciale Title: The West and the Rest Level: BA Thesis in Media and Communication Studies Location: Linnaeus University Language: Swedish In today's media, the use of stereotypes and simplifications of the world and of different groups are common. It is a part of how humans make sense of the world. The problem is that these simplifications tend to encourage false notions of reality. The way charities communicate in advertising is important in order to engage the audience to donate. This study aims to examine how the non-profit organization SOS Barnbyar Sverige portray underprivileged individuals in their commercials. We have chosen to focus on two different commercials in relation to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. The first commercial has no relation to the crisis and the second one is an attempt to show the viewer the situation of a refugee. We have studied the material through a qualitative semiotic method, also using colonialism, stereotypes and representation as theoretical frame- work in order to examine whether or not certain notions and simplifications are reproduced in the commercials from this organization. Our study has shown that there were a lot of colonial ideals and stereotypes to be found in SOS Barnbyars commercials, thus fueling the polarization of us and them and the Other.