Happy Labor Day - the appeal to pity

Jeff Parkers Cartoon on Labor day, primarily uses the Propaganda technique of Appeal to Emotions, more importantly the Appeal for Pity. Visually his use of the height of unhappy unemployed people slowly grows more aggravated the closer to the door, building tension and to direct your eyes to the “Closed have a HAPPY LABOR DAY.” This cartoon seems to be primarily directed at the late thirties and older crowd. The biggest and often most missed point of this cartoon could be primarily aimed at those who are still or recently unemployed. Friday is most commonly the days people are laid off, and Mondays are the day that you file for your unemployment benefits, and missing a week means that you have to wait till the next week to claim both weeks. This comic also seems to mirror what the Statements released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports about mass layoffs in July set to be released on Friday, August 21, 2009, “Employers took 2,157 mass layoff actions in July that resulted in the separation of 206,791 workers as reported... ...seven states reached program highs in average weekly initial claims for the month of July--Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, and Utah.”