In 2009, Lego developed an advertising campaign with three different images. The main slogan of the advertisement was “Kids shouldn’t watch too much TV”. The toy company thought that although television is a great source of entertainment, it may also contain some contents that are not suitable for children.

          In view of this, Lego developed a series of advertisements, suggesting Lego blocks could help to keep children away from the television and provide a good alternative for them to have fun. The images of the three advertisements were taken from scenes of TV programmes about drugs, sex or violence. The one selected for analysis is about taking drugs.

          In the image, there was a man with dirty clothes sitting on the ground. He looked tired or sick as his hair was messy and he had big dark circles around his eyes. He was confused as he was frowning. These also made him looked like a poor guy or a bad guy. He tied a belt tight on his left arm. He was also holding something in his right hand but it was censored and cannot be seen.

          Although an important part of the image could not be seen clearly, it is easy for an adult to recognize that the guy was taking drugs. It is a stereotype that a drug addict would look like the man in the advertisement. This made it a controversial advertisement. Although Lego aimed to target the advertisement to the parents, it was still a toy company which manufactures toys for children. Therefore, it is expected that the company would have a positive image, so that is could produce fun and healthy toys. However, the advertising campaign was too aggressive. The TV scenes chosen were too violent or unhealthy for kids. If the kids saw those images, they might be negatively influenced. So, it would also build a negative image of Lego in the parents’ minds, as the company did not consider the influences to children before developing the campaign. 

         The photo essay Hong Kong: Anger and Protest as City Marks 15 Years Since Its Return to China was chosen from Time World. They were taken on the 30 June and 1 July 2012. There are ten photos in total, which can be divided into two main themes, the protests of Hong Kong people, and the official activities to celebrate the return to China and inauguration ceremony of the new Hong Kong leader.

         The photographer skillfully placed the photos of the two themes in-between each other’s, which showed a big contrast between the protests situation and the official activities. It also showed the big gap between the Hong Kong government and its people.

         From the first three photos, we can see that many of the Hong Kong people were protesting against the new Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying right after his inauguration ceremony. While Leung was swearing-in in the grand hall vowing to make Hong Kong a better place, thousands of people with anger was protesting on the street, showing their unwillingness to receive this new leader.

         I like the forth and the fifth photos the most. Both of them showed people lining up with well order, but their purposes were totally different. The forth was the variety show celebrating the 15th anniversary of the handover. If was colorful and people was jubilant. But in the next photo, people were demonstrating. The color was dull, and the red banner in the middle captured the attention, and also showed how people dissatisfied with the China government.

         The last two photos are also powerful. They were taken at night. The ninth was the fireworks show which was to celebrate Hong Kong’s return to China. It supposed to be happy and hopeful about tomorrow. But then, the following photo showed a protester holding a colonial Hong Kong flag. He looked sad and disappointed, which indicated how the 15 years rule of China disappointed the Hong Kong people.