Analyzing Advertisements

Television advertisements have been a part of pop culture for years, these quick minute long clips gain the popularity of its viewers through humor, shock, or simply good salesmanship. The ShamWow infomercial has become one the most well known television ads in America. Its popularity came from its snappy dialogue, believable offer, and enthusiastic spokesman. But what made this infomercial so successful? Today I will be analyzing how the ineffective use of the appeals of ethos and kairos, and the highly effective appeal of logos and pathos effect the audience in the ShamWow commercial.

When it comes to the topic of commercials, most of us readily agree that commercials are irritating. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the purpose of the commercial. Whereas some are convinced that commercials are meaningless, others maintain that commercials tell a story. Effective commercials are repetitive and illustrate a story. Marketers use rhetoric marketing, the art of persuasive speaking and writing, when persuading an audience to buy a product. Rhetoric marketing is especially effective through the illustration of a story. It is effective because the marketer is able to relate to the consumer with a story or message. Advertisers also use the appeals of logic, credibility, and emotions to intrigue interest in a company. Coca-Cola’s advertisement, “Falling,” depicts the product as a confidence building companion suitable for young love through a series of logical and emotional appeals that visibly promotes the brand’s credibility.

What does an ad say about a society? When viewing a product advertisement, many people never stop to think why the ad and product appeals to them. However, when a more critical look is taken, it’s easy to see precisely how ads are carefully tailored to appeal to trending values of a targeted demographic, and how that makes it easy to examine the society of those whom the ad is targeted at. In the analytic writing Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin provides an excellent example of this, as she crafts a logical and clear analysis of a 1950’s Coca-Cola magazine ad which thoroughly explains how advertisements can reveal quite a great deal about the society in which they were created.

Advertisements are everywhere. From billboards, to magazines, to newspapers, flyers and TV commercials, chances are that you won’t go a day without observing some sort of ad. In most cases, companies use these ads as persuasive tools, deploying rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—to move their audiences to think or act in a certain way. The two magazine ads featured here, both endorsing Pedigree products, serve as excellent examples of how these modes of persuasion are strategically used.

L’Oreal heavily utilizes pathos in its True Match Powder advertisement to generate sales. The company itself runs on an emotionally-charged slogan: buy L’Oreal “Because You’re Worth It”, so this comes as no surprise. Recently, many major makeup brands have been under heavy criticism because their products do not cater to a wide range of skintones - L’Oreal attempts to set themselves apart in this advertisement. They use pathos in the imagery on the advertisement, in the text throughout, and in their graphic art slogan on the bottom left.

Because the advertisement was aired five months after the September 11 incident, there were intense emotions among the American citizens. Budweiser was aware of this and created a commercial with strong emotional appeals. With pathos loaded, the advertisement seems to appeal to the viewer’s emotional senses. In the beginning, a character in the form of a man is fascinated by the horses. The image of the horses is reflected in the glasses of the windows. Business takes place in this area, but he takes a break from all the activities to watch the passing horses because of the awe factor that the Clydesdales stimulates. Thus, as an audience, I will resonate with the man by showing the same reaction. The behaviors of the man are expected to the audience how they should react as well. They are expected to stop every activity they were performing and understand the powerful message conveyed by the majestic creatures.

The advertisement overall is effective to attract the male gender. It is very common that since men are very competitive and confident, Nike would create this ad to praise men. Although, the ad is also being effective to the individual who is not fit but wants to participate in the competition which this includes running using Nike shoes. Therefore, the ad is excellent at using pathos, and logical appeal in order to persuade its purpose.

Many businesses and organization use the method of advertisement to sell their products. Ads enhance products and encourage the audience to buy its products. There are many strategies in which influence how successful an ad can sell its product. In this essay, I will be conducting a rhetoric analysis on a chip advertisement created by Popchips. This essay should identify the audience the ad is trying to reach; the message the ad delivers; and the three modes of persuasion (ethos, logos, and pathos) that are used in this ad. For reference, this ad can be found at the end of this essay.

In her article “Advertisements R Us,” Melissa Rubin notes that Coke’s message in the ad she analyzes is that “Coke will refresh and unite working America” (249). Her evidence for this is based on several things—for instance, right in the middle of ad sits a large Coke machine and the bottom of the ad explicitly states, “A welcome host to workers—Inviting you to the pause that refreshes with ice-cold Coca-Cola” (249). She concludes her article with the insight that “Coke ads helped shape the American identity,” pointing to the underlying message of the ad that Coke can provide the carefree, joyful life it never fails to portray in its ads to everyone who takes a sip (250).

television advertisement companies, main intention is to captivate the audience in other to purchase their product that they are portraying. In this essay, I will be analyzing these two ads, “Whale” (Old Spice) and “Susan Glenn” (Axe). These ads are formulated to get their products noticed, along with sparking the interest of the other goods they may offer. Countless methods are used to convince the audience that’s being targeted to buy the product. Therefore, these ads are similar in its ability to gain the attention of their audiences by appealing to pathos. Through this essay I will analyze the rhetorical effects that help bring these commercials to life.

Companies have many ways that they persuade their consumers to buy their products. They use concrete facts to appeal to and persuade their buyers into buying their products. How they present their information is vital to grab buyer's attention. In this essay, the writers are mocking advertisements in a humorous way through a fake product called MagnaSoles that they are selling to people with sore feet. They use many rhetorical devices to achieve this goal.

Getting customers to relate to the content is the main goal of any marketing agency. Nike did an amazing job in this way by creating a commercial that almost anyone can understand and relate with. This commercial contains nothing flashy or stereotypical which is common in todays media. Looking at the overall content, it is very easy to understand and apply to individual, and unique situations. There is not one component in this message that is new or shocking. People often repress unconscious drive to improve themselves by telling themselves they can’t. This commercial gathers the fact that they can make a change and put it right in front of the target audience. This commercial gives people hope by informing them that the way we look is not a reflection of our genetic make-up, but a reflection of how we choose to live our lives. I don’t think this commercial has caused many people to make huge life style changes. I do believe that this commercial has influenced a lot of people to try, which is all we can do if you think about

Pathos is the main rhetorical device used throughout this commercial. Pathos is a quality that evokes emotions. It all begins with the puppy coming out from under the hay and the audience falling in love. Pathos is then used to tug on emotions when the puppy gets lost in the back of the truck. We soon see the emotion of the owner, but also the horse. Then we see the puppy all alone in the rain trying to take shelter. Towards the end, the puppy tries to find a home, but gets himself in trouble with the wolf. We then see the ending, we want, we see the puppy is saved and returns home to end the commercial with the owner enjoying a Budweiser. Throughout this commercial pathos creates a sense of happiness, pride, worry, and then happiness all over

In today’s time we come across a vast amount of advertising using various forms such as outdoor billboards, print advertisements, TV commercials and online advertisements. Advertising is a very common means of getting customers to see one’s message, brand and product. However, it is apparent that advertising is intentionally deceptive in the sense that it tries to prey on one’s weaknesses as a human being. For example, beer commercials constantly use sex appeal with attractive women to charm men and perfume commercials use the idea that their product will bring women the love that they have so long desired. Likewise in the Nike advertisement featuring Serena Williams, the advertisers use vivid visual elements to convey the idea that Nike products will make the consumer popular, athletic, beautiful, skilled, talented, hardworking and ultimately successful. This definition of Nike is achieved through the use of the famous athlete, the words of the ad, her facial expression, her stance and the background scenery.

In the Hunter/Gatherer section of Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan talks about what it takes to accomplish the task of developing a meal on his own; consequently, the people of today’s society are so used to the abundance of food that they have no idea what all is involved in establishing a full meal. Americans take this great abundance of food for granted, which causes an increased craving for more. This is where the world of advertisement has been the strongest. One of the easiest ways to reach people is through their food; therefore, major food industries try to lure people in at all costs just to buy their products. The Fast food industry is the