Journal #3

I encountered this poster while taking a taxi in London from Paddington station to Waterloo. I did not take this picture, but was able to find the poster online. It is sponsored by Transport for London as well as the City of London Police and is a part of the Cabwise campaign.

Cabwise aims at preventing individuals from taking unbooked minicabs that could potentially put the individual at risk of attack or robbery. The poster depicts a girl being kept in a car against her will and implies that she is either being robbed or physically assaulted. The text "stop, please no, please stop"demonstrates that the driver is doing something she does not wish for him to do. It shows that taking unofficial cabs can be dangerous and gives instructions on how one can make sure they take official cabs and are transported safely.

The target audience is London citizens, while this specific poster seems to target females. Any London citizen who takes cabs on a regular basis is at risk of taking an unmarked cab; however, the poster demonstrates that it may have greater consequences for females.

The objectives of this poster are to teach individuals the potential consequences of taking unmarked cabs as well as educate them on how to find official taxis. The poster not only demonstrates that taking unbooked minicabs can be dangerous, but also teaches the audience how to avoid putting themselves in that situation.

If I could ask the director of the campaign one question, it would be whether they considered including statistics that demonstrated the dangers of using unbooked minicabs. These statistics could include the amount of assault cases or robberies that occur annually as a result of using unbooked minicabs.

This poster is very effective in dissuading individuals from using unbooked minicabs. Even if the likelihood of anything happening is small, one would not want to take a chance after viewing this ad. The ad is accurately placed in London cabs and reaches its intended audience well.