Straw City Persuasion Analysis

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.

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.

Logos, ethos, and pathos are essential components used in advertising. By learning to recognize logos, ethos, and pathos in advertising, we are able to understand the message and what is being portrayed. (Albert et al, 2014), suggested that Aristotle postulated that a speaker’s ability to effectively convince an audience is constructed on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos. These appeals together form what Aristotle calls a rhetorical triangle.

Every minute of every day, millions of people are exposed to advertisements. They plague televisions, streets, radio waves, and all means of communication. These advertisements employ many methods of persuasion and their influence is irresistible. Just like prisoners in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, we are told every day to invest our time and interest into the subject of these advertisements, and to accept the forms of reality they serve us. Whether it be a commercial for a must-have new car, to a spot featuring desirable fast food, or to magazines with photoshopped models; we are seduced to accept these false

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.

In the rhetorical analysis that is observed in the PSA, pathos is the most exploited in the majority of these ads. As it graphically exalts the emotions with situations in which the spectator can clearly relate. This announcement in particular considers a dialog between a mother and a student seconds before an accident is caused by texting and driving. The mother questions if the student is aware that it is not in her lane, if she is texting, and requests emphatically that she pay attention to the road because her children are in the car with her. The student responds by justifying her actions but is mortified when she acknowledges what is about to happen. She does not have

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.

One anti-smoking poster shows merely a pair of hands holding a revolver. Instead of bullets the hands are using cigarettes to load the weapon. Listed in small print on one side of the poster are numerous conditions that may be related to smoking, such as fatal heart attacks, emphysema, cancer, and gum disease. The phrase “Smoking kills… so why bother starting” is printed in large font at the bottom of the poster. The message of this poster is clear: Don’t Smoke. The poster is trying to portray that smoking is like holding a loaded weapon. Just as someone would be endangering their life with the loaded gun, they would also be endangering their life with the use of cigarettes. The consequences and health issues associated with smoking can be just as deadly as those of the gun. Ultimately, if someone smokes they are putting their life at risk. Therefore, the logical act is to never start smoking.

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.

Society uses manipulation to divert people’s attention every day and oftentimes people do not realize that they are being manipulated. An advertisement through television is one of the many ways that people are manipulated. TV uses advertisements daily by incorporating subliminal messages to get people to do things that they would not otherwise be thinking about doing. The following articles “Can TV improve us?” by Jane Rosenzweig, On Sale at Old Navy: Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies!” by Damien Cave and TV’s War of Words” by Deborah Tannen exemplify instances where manipulation is being showcased at its best.

Coming from commercials, newspapers, movies, and magazines, advertisements are one of the most prominent things that we get bombarded with on a daily basis. The problem with a lot of people including myself is that we fall victim to the manipulation of the advertising sharks and their devious tricks. In the article ‘Advertising’s 15 Basic Appeals’ by Jib Fowles, the author describes how advertisers will use 15 basic emotional appeals in order to get you to say ‘I want and need that!’ In National Geographic, a historical, anthropological, discovery-based magazine, advertisers focus their energy on the middle-aged, middle-class, educated audience, who want to improve not only their intellectual integrity, but also improve their families lives if the readers can help it. National Geographic advertisers can do this by appealing to the readers’ basic needs for achievement, nurture, and guidance.

This paper analyzes the effectiveness in creating Kairos in an article by establishing a sense of exigence. A form of rhetorical appeal, Kairos is the ability to take advantage of an opportune moment to persuade an audience to act now, meet a deadline or react to a crisis. A key factor in the creation of Kairos is the establishment of exigence. Exigence is a set of circumstances which establishes a sense of urgency; a reason for existence. In Jean Kilbourne’s article “Two Ways to Hurt a Women” she effectively uses, Kairos to persuade her audience that media needs to be more aware of the portrayal of men, women, and children in advertisements and the impact on children’s future behavior and beliefs.

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.

Advertisers use a variety of appeals to convince the viewer’s to buy certain products or bring a topic to the awareness of the viewer. The anti-child abuse announcement that San Francisco Human Services Agency released is no different. A public service announcement is designed to publicize a problem the nation is facing. Advertisements can appeal to the audience through a variety of elements such as images and speech. In this advertisement pathos and ethos are represented through the sounds and visual content while logos is presented through the statistics given at the end of the advertisement. With this advertisement it is also important to consider the

American’s most savored beverage is beer. It’s one of the top consumed drinks and can be drank for different occasions. Budweiser, one of the most top selling beer companies puts out their commercials to advertise their beers. While their commercials are used to produce sales, what most don’t see is the message they associate when drinking a Budweiser. These commercials often use rhetoric to persuade us. Rhetorical devices are used to be the most effective way to persuade and audience into thinking. Pathos, ethos, and logos are used to make a powerful statement to be successful in their beer sales.