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Diana Rodriguez
Prof. Jan Babcock
English 107H
26 October 2015
Moms Demand Action: A Rhetorical Analysis
Two children stand in a classroom. With nave faces and solemn eyes, they look back at
the audience. Both children are the same age, yet one of them holds something that is banned in
the United States, while the other holds an object that is perfectly legal. A Kinder egg rests in the
hands of one child, while the other child cradles an assault rifle in her arms in the first add; and
in the second one, a young girl holds Little Red Riding Hood while the other one carries the
same assault rifle. The advertisement asks the reader which object is prohibited, but it beckons
the audience to consider the question which object should be prohibited? Gun control has

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become a hot topic here in America. People are questioning what is infringing on their basic
rights, and whether these laws should be changed in order to protect the public. To make a
difference among voters, many organizations have turned to impactful advertisements that could
not be defined better by the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words. A perfect example of
this idea is the images comparing two children and the banned versus legal objects they are
holding from the campaign Moms Demand Action. The Moms Demand Action advertisement is
effective in moving the audience into supporting and attacking todays proposal for gun control
through its strong use of pathos included in the powerful, contrasting images, and the use of
logos to validate the irrational laws behind gun use.
Gun control has become a particularly popular debate in recent years, but it has always
been a present discussion for many years. According to statistics from 10 years ago, firearms
killed more than 29,700 Americans in 2002, more than the number of U.S. soldiers killed during
the bloodiest year of the Vietnam War (Adam). The issue has a historical and political
upbringing, but the advertisement aims to impact its social and ideological aspects. According to
a 2013 article on Sandy Hook, the shooting caused a fallout [that] has been widespread and
relentless: marches and protests, fiery advertisements, celebrity endorsements, contentious
congressional and state hearings, proposed federal and state legislation and a tough, new guncontrol law in New York state (Mantel). The Moms Demand Action campaign is one of these
recent organizations dedicated to ending gun violence and creating gun control laws in America.
As described on their site, they are a non-partisan grassroots movement to mobilize moms and
families to advocate for stronger gun laws ("Join Moms Demand Action!"). This organization
uses its advertisements to convince people to join their cause, as well as inform them of the
current laws surrounding gun violence. Today, Moms Demand Action is focusing on persuading

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stores to prohibit customers from walking in with their weapons. Through these advertisements
and additional movements, they have successfully convinced Starbucks, and are now looking to
persuade Krogers. What makes their ads effective is they focus on the emotional response rather
than the administrative parts of gun control. As reported on the site nearly 7 kids and teens die
from gun violence every day ("Take Action"). The advertisements are meant to sway the
audience, remind them of the dangerous implications that guns have on the public, and more
specifically the children for that matter. They show these dangers in their ads through the ethos,
logos and primarily pathos.
Starting with ethos, the advertisement relies to some extent on the fact presented on the
image, as it is what describes the deep contrast of a lethal weapon being allowed while other
benign objects being banned. To support the fact, at the bottom of each advertisement, they place
an explanation of the reason why the item is not allowed which gives the advertisement some
credibility. More importantly though, the advertisement is created by mothers to represent
children and the controversies Americans encounter when it comes to gun rights. Mothers know
more than anyone the fear and concern associated when a child is in potential danger, giving
them more credibility within the context of this emotional advertisement.
When it comes to logos, each of the images provide one statistic to shock the reader.
These facts are essentially just statements of something that is illegal in the US or banned in the
setting of the picture. However, when placed next to the gun, the regulation is insignificant, and
essentially irrational. Statistics have shown that guns are the second-leading cause of death
(after motor vehicle accidents) among Americans under age 20 (Adam). The advertisement
clearly states the laws were placed in order to protect childrens lives. The effectiveness of
adding this small fact is that it is simple. It does not overwhelm the audience with unconceivable

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numbers that might be hard to comprehend. It is short sweet and to the point. However, it is also
obvious that the advertisement does not rely solely on this fact to cause an impact in the
audience. The statistic is in a very small font at the bottom of the page, and only stands out
because it is printed in white.
Thus, it is clearly obvious that the advertisement relies on pathos to influence and affect
its target audience. Beginning with the use of children, children are typically used to symbolize
innocence, good, and purity, and that image is disturbed by including a gun which represents
violence. In the first picture, there is a conflicting reflection of the child on the left holding a
Kinder egg, a chocolate candy forbidden in the USA due to its choking hazard from the toy
inside, and the girl on the right holding an assault rifle which is almost the size of her body.
Similarly in the second picture, the same asymmetry is found: two young girls, one with a
fairytale, and the other with a gun. In both images, the children are placed in settings that are
incorporated in schools, with schools being one of the main settings for shootings. According to
statistics, [there's] an average of 20 school shootings per year from 2010 to 2014. The number
of deaths in these additional school shootings is 86 (Duplechain and Morris). The settings the
children are in are dimly lit with dark shades and colors of gray creating a grim tone, as well as
making the children, with their brightly colored clothing, stand out. Additionally, the center
caption, which is meant to astonish the onlookers, is in capital letters in red and white to stand
out from the dark background. Using contrasting words like banned, and protect also
generates a conflict in the image, as these words are associated to the children in the image.
Overall the image sparks emotions of confusion, anger, and shock in the intended audience
which can be assumed to be parents, older siblings, teachers or anyone who is connected to
children in their lives.

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Finally, when it comes to audience the advertisement is presented to the general public of
voters, but has a special focus on moms. As described by a TIMES reporter, as each fresh
shooting horror is met by the same inaction in Congress, a roiling frustration may be awakening
an army of moms who see themselves as outsiders armed only with their clout as voters and
agitators (Dickinson/Washington, Amy). This quote is in reference to the Moms Demand Action
organization, and who they have influenced with their ideas which are mostly expressed through
their advertisements. Thus the advertisement is effective. To further prove its effect, and the
effect campaigns like Moms Demand Action have on their audience, a poll was taken showing
that about 72% of women, vs. 22% of men, have begun favoring gun control more, making it one
of the main concerns women have besides education and health care (Dickinson/Washington,
Amy).
The advertisements offered by the campaign Moms Demand Action offer a simple, yet
powerful message through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. The advertisement includes facts,
but relies for the most part on the emotional appeal created through the picture. This campaign
shows how influential a PSA can be when it comes to promoting change for current laws like the
regulation of firearms. Additionally, it shows how effective an ad can be when shown to its
appropriate audience, and when that ad contains the proper appeals of ethos, pathos and logos.

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Works Cited
Adams, Bob. "Gun Control Debate." CQ Researcher 12 Nov. 2004: 949-72. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Join Moms Demand Action!" Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Everytown for
Gun Safety Action Fund, 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Take Action!" Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Everytown for Gun Safety
Action Fund, 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Mantel, Barbara. "Gun Control." CQ Researcher 8 Mar. 2013: 233-56. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Dickinson/Washington, Amy. "Mothers Against Guns." Time. Time Inc., 07 May 2000. Web. 21
Oct. 2015.
Duplechain, Rosalind, and Robert Morris. "School violence: reported school shootings and
making schools safer." Education 135.2 (2014): 145+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Duplechain and Morris