In 2010 the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) came out with a commercial that would shock the advertisement industry. The effectiveness of this commercial is proven, simply by watching the reactions of the commercial’s viewers. For those who have never seen the video it has a very sad and morose tone to it. The commercial begins with showing pictures and videos of suffering animals with the song “Angel” playing in the background. While this is going on the narrator of the commercial (Sarah McLachlen) is softly talking about the suffering and abuse that these unfortunate animals go through. Through many different rhetorical techniques the viewers are many times brought to tears after watching this …show more content…
While those clips are being shown, the song ‘In the Arms of an Angel’ by Sarah McLachlan is being played in the background. Slides with different statistics are being shown as well. The song “In the Arms of an Angel” is the major aspect of the commercial that really sets the tone. The tone of the song is depressing and gloomy but grabs the attention of the audience at the same time. The main point of the commercial is to convince the audience to “be an angel”, by saving the abused animals dying in the shelters. The song used is a perfect tool to convince the audience to be an angel and help the animals. Even though the music is a large part of setting the tone, the clips and pictures are equally as moving. Showing pictures of abused and suffering animals is a great way to get the audience’s attention and cause them to become sympathetic to the animals. Very few people in the world are unfazed when they see a video or picture of a helpless and suffering dog or cat. I looked at a lot of the related videos on YouTube and many of them are reaction videos. The videos show the audience’s reaction to the commercial. In more than 99 percent of the videos that I saw the viewer is in tears at the end. If a commercial that brings the audience to tears is not a perfect example of pathos then I don’t know what is.
After showing a variety of different clips that represents the pain and suffering that
The second way in which this commercial uses pathos is through its use of families. Family is supposed to be people that you love and care about that want the best for you. They are supposed to be supportive and influence you to do positive things. To many people, family is the most important thing to them. So, when advertisements use them they attack the audience’s emotions. There were multiple families in the advertisement. There were families involved in the accident as well as a family who witnessed the car accident. All of their lives were changed over a text. The families having to go through this causes strong emotion for the audience. According to a study done by Aaker, “In advertising, warmth
Throughout the video pathos was demonstrated by the emotion of the commercial. It has value based evidence like risk taking. When undocumented workers immigrate to the United States they risk their life to seek a better one with more opportunities. The journey of it all can bring sadness, fear but also hope. The daughter and mother
One of the most influential advertisements that is frequently shown on television that use these three appeals is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercials that urge viewers to help the organizations by adopting an animal in need, by donating money, by volunteering their time, or a combination thereof. In order to convey their message, these television advertisements use ethos to establish credibility. One of the ways in which credibility can be established is through the use of a celebrity (Johnson, 2011). "Ethos is the appeal of a speaker's/actor's character or authority, such as the use of local celebrities or the business owner/employees in a company's advertising" (Johnson, 2011). Musician Sarah McLaughlin helps to promote the ASPCA's mission (ASPCA Commercial, 2008). Sarah McLaughlin is seen as a credible celebrity. Her image as a credible source is further enhanced through the introduction of a canine companion, a golden retriever. In addition to having McLaughlin as a spokesperson for the ASPCA, the organization itself is a credible source. Established
Two techniques in particular are ethos and plain folks. Ethos focuses on the emotional reaction to a piece and how well the ethos is displayed determines the effect it has on others. The impression lasting is what makes it so powerful. This lasting impression is carried on by the technique called plain folks. This is incorporated by a normal woman helping these animals and this gives us the impression that we can help just as she has. This also emphasizes a lasting impression. This campaign connects to everyday values by connecting the emotion to our own lives and showing how it affects our lives. It is stated that in animal abuse cases, “64.5 percent (1,212) involved dogs.” (CNN 1). The commercial makes change
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
Throughout the commercial sick children and shown being given different tests and laying in hospital beds. By showing these images the audience feels a sense of fear, loss, pain, and grief, even though they do not personally know the children. By not donating the audience does feel responsible for these sick children potentially losing their lives. At the same time the commercial causes such negative feelings, it also provides positive ones such as hope and pride. By donating to St. Jude’s hospital a child’s life can be saved and that is because of you. This is effective for St. Jude’s because most people would rather feel positive feelings rather than negative, so they are more likely to call and donate to keep that positive feeling going. Also, ending the advertisement on a positive note by telling the audience “You can bring them that hope” the audience is drawn into pathos all over
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
For this essay I will be using the commercial made by Budweiser for the 2015 Super Bowl, “Lost Dog.” This advertisement is about a tiny lost puppy getting far away from home and most importantly, the friendship between this puppy and some Clydesdale horses. In the beginning of this commercial, the puppy is shown hiding under some hay, and then he proceeds to jump into a random trailer which initially gets him lost far from home. There is no dialogue in this commercial aside from the music in the background, but the advertisement shows the distress of the owner through facial expressions and scenes where he puts
The commercial had the power to make people feel emotions such as sadness, preoccupation, stress, and happiness. The first use of pathos occurs when the dog gets lost. Budweiser appealed to the emotional sensibility of their viewers. For example, when the dog had to face the wolf the audience could feel the stressful and fearful situation the poor dog was on. Since the dog had not done anything wrong, the audience viewed the puppy as a victim. Additionally, the commercial sets an emotional appeal through the music that is playing in the background. The song that is played is an acoustic cover of “I would walk 500 miles” by The Proclaimers. When the dog gets lost, the lyrics that are played are “...when I go out, yeah I know I am going to be the man that goes along with you” (0:20-0:30). This definitely goes along with the gloomy mood the commercial is trying to set at that moment because the dog is trying to go home. The story of this dog’s struggles and friendship was more effective than Budweiser just stating that beer can be shared with your friends. Budweiser used pathos to truly support their claim and did not use it as a distraction from the main issue, which is friendship and their
The first use of rhetoric that is seen is at the start of the commercial. The commercial opens by simply showing the symbol for the Humane Society of the United States, which is the shape of the United States made up of animals. It then shows the animals being rescued by the teams of people that work for the HSUS. Every worker is wearing a shirt with the HSUS logo on it. Opening up with their symbol, and showing the pictures and videos of the recues with workers wearing HSUS attire establishes their good use of ethos. When a person watches this commercial, they see that the Humane Society of the United States is an organization that is built around the belief that animals want, and need to be cared for and loved. It
The commercial appeals to the audience’s pathos more than anything. Animals, especially dogs, have a way of pulling with human heartstrings. “...they can be used to transfer desired meanings to the products with which they are associated” (Phillips 1). In other words, using animals in advertisements can link advertised products to the feelings that are associated
Coming from a family, that has a dog and donates to different causes each year and has donate to the ASPCA in the past. It's mind numbing to think that someone could commit cruel and inhumane acts, such as using dogs. Then tries to put it on family members or friends, claiming that he did own the house, but he had no knowledge of what was going on since he was supposedly never there. It's astounding that he even said that, if a person owns a house, its typically implied that you know whats going on at your house, so that whatever you spent on said house, doesn't go in the trash. I am an avid dog lover and if my dog would ever be used for something like this, I seriously don't know what I would do. It's irritating to even think about. The reputation
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
This advertisement also uses major topics in today’s society to draw people in. In the first section of the commercial, it uses whale extinction and McCarthy trying to save them. Secondly, it uses deforestation and the efforts to save the trees as another environmental draw-in. In the third slot, it focuses on global warming and the melting ice caps. And lastly, the commercial uses the extinction of rhinos (K. 2017.). This establishes Ethos by showing that the company is aware of the problems in the world today. These environmental issues have been a problem for several years, and there are many people that are concerned for them. By using them to pull people in, they are opening their audience to not only people who like the outdoors, but also to people who want to be heroes.
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