Logos And Pathos In The Blood Box

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the methods of persuasion that are used in this commercial, and how the use of ethos, pathos, and logos has made the commercial from ASPCA persuasive and successful.

Whenever you drive down the road you see an ad. Whenever you’re on your phone or watching T.V. you will see ads. Ads are all around you wherever you go; it is close to impossible to go a day without seeing one single ad. All ads have one specific purpose, and that purpose is to make viewers intrigued to buy exactly what is being advertised. Advertisers use three strategies to draw viewers to ads, pathos, logos and ethos. These deal with emotions, logic and facts, and credibility. Ads can range anywhere from just words to pictures and if you look hard enough you will be able to locate these appeals within every ad you see. Bauer uses the appeals of pathos, logos and ethos to convince viewers that their hockey stick, the Vapor APX, is far better than any of their competitor’s sticks.

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.

The final and the strongest appeal in the advertisement is pathos, the appeal to emotions. Throughout the ad sick children are being shown and getting treated by a doctor or nurse. Showing the family and children laying down on beds who are being diagnosed for cancer. By showing these images the audience feels a sense of loss, fear, pain and grief, even though they do not personally know the children. Also, by not helping these children the audience might feel

Advertising is a complicated form of marketing, it’s almost like an art form. One must be acutely aware of their audience and what captures their attention, otherwise the advertisement will fall flat. There is a myriad of different ways to lure consumers into buying a product; for example, the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) managed through a series of advertisements to convince individuals of the importance in getting a vaccination for the influenza virus. It was applied using multiple techniques, namely the methods of universal appeal and association. These techniques helped the CDC to effectively promotes the flu vaccine and get their message across to a wide range of people.

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.

Once the “Give Blood” tab has been clicked, a very large photo of a child in a hospital bed covers the page. This is a good example of the use of the pathos rhetoric. This child, who is possibly dying, along with similar photos, spark something in the reader’s heart. It definitely calls for an emotional response that will require action that accompanies their message (the donation of blood or money). This entire website is full of pictures and short messages that warrant an emotional feedback. That being said, the Red Cross is not begging for sympathy or toying with the public’s emotions in a way that makes them seem superficial. They maintain a balance of sensitive content through pictures and messages and dignifying stoicism in their data.

By asking the viewer to imagine themselves in a certain situation the creators of this ad are asking viewers to empathize with others. The clever use of pathos in this ad, is what will make viewers feel compassion and

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.

What captures the attention of people when they view an advertisement, commercial or poster? Is it the colors, a captivating phrase or the people pictured? While these are some of the elements often employed in advertising, we can look deeper and analyze the types of appeals that are utilized to draw attention to certain advertisements. The persuasive methods used can be classified into three modes. These modes are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos makes an appeal to emotions, logos appeals to logic or reason and ethos makes an appeal of character or credibility. Each appeal can give support to the message that is being promoted.

Advertisers all have one goal in common, that is an ad that is catching to a consumer’s attention. In today’s fast paced society there are so many selling products and charities. As I exam the advertisement for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (ASPCA), I will show how they use the pathos, ethos, and logos – also known as Aristotle’s Theory of Persuasion.

The main purpose of commercials and advertisements is to persuade the viewer to purchase the product that is advertised, but not all commercials are successful in this endeavor. Companies, such as Budweiser and Kleenex, appeal to the viewers’ ethos, logos, and pathos in order to influence them to buy the advertised product(s). In order to appeal to each of the categories, companies use different tactics to catch viewers’ attention. The use of ethos, logos, and pathos can make or break an advertisement based on how it is being used.

It says “MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING.” which is purposefully printed in larger font than the rest to establish the theme of the advertisement. These words directly relate to the underlying motif of the ad. The indirect message that it transmits is that “something more than money is needed and the image should tell you what it is.” The second main element is the box itself. We as humans are trained to see donation boxes as a means to collect financial donations. The creators thus play with this simple logic to emphasize on their argument. The image of blood in the box, and not money, contradicts this common conception and points the readers to the kind of help needed from them. An unnatural image of blood in a donation box sparks a conflict in the viewers’ brain and grabs their attention. People are able to tell right away that something is wrong with the picture. This very fact that something is different about the picture also tells the viewers that there is a concealed message. On the contrary, if the box were to be an ordinary donation box with a few dollars and coins inside it, and the text in a more direct manner stated “WE ALSO NEED YOU TO DONATE BLOOD,” people would have turned away from the ad. (ADD SOMETHING HERE IF NEEDED)

Words like “help,” “feel,” and “faster,” are used in this ad to subtly make readers believe that NyQuil will cure Mom’s illness quickly when, in fact, they really only say that the products might make her symptoms briefly subside quicker than another indistinct method of treatment. This subtle method of advertisement is actually very common in all types of ads. Another technique used to attract attention of audiences is the adorable image of a mother and daughter playing dress up together. When someone sees this image, they are expected to feel strong, loving emotion for the seemingly deep mother-daughter connection in the photo. This mode of persuasion, pathos, is used to play on the emotions of viewers who see this ad. By using pathos in advertising, advertisers are also showing the main values of a culture.

Not all advertisers do such a great job at taking their point across in an ad. Sometimes there are those ads that you can stare at endlessly, trying to figure out what it is trying to persuade you of buying, but you never understand