In our latest English class, we talked about Aristotle's Rhetoric and Ethos, Pathos and Logos which are included in the elements of persuasive language. Ethos is credibility and trust, Pathos is emotion and Logos is logic or proof.
I decided to relate what I learned in class to the real world and find out to what extent Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are used in our lives. The most effective way to do so would be to analyze a persuasive commercial. The commercial that I chose was the Colgate Total Tv Advertisement as I believe it embodies all of the three components.
Colgate Total Ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULR68LTmbw#t=33.476513
First of all, I wanted to identify the audience targeted by the commercial. Since this commercial is more scientific based and logical, not creative and fun. I believe that it is targeted towards adults that could already be suffering from dental issues. This can also be extracted from the language used such as a reduction in plaque and gingivitis anticipating that the person is already affected by plaque and gingivitis. The language used is also advanced and subject specific which further supports the claim that the commercial is for adults that understand these terms. The people they choose to interview about their review on the product are also in a similar age group which is the mid-thirties to forties indicating that these are the people that should use their product. This age is also the age when tooth deterioration can become witnessed and is the age were cosmetic care is still highly valued, unlike when a person gets older and is not as concerned with how they look.
This commercial also does a great job utilizing Ethos effectively as can be seen throughout the video. Not only does the Ad use dentist recommendation and promotion, it also has short stories that back up the company claims, from users of the product about how the product has impacted their lives and helped them with their oral hygiene. Having a dentist or any medical specialist recommend the product is also very reassuring to people as they have always been viewed as credible sources as they are experts in their field.
Logos is also used in this commercial as statistics were used to back up what the dentist was saying about the product. The video also goes into as much detail as possible to explain how the product works so it seems more believable to people. Knowing how a product works to achieve what you want is always a good way to lure customers. The statistics also can be used by people as proof in order to tell themselves that this is a product that is worth the price and should be bought. the balance of Ethos and Logos is what makes the company creating the product seem like they now what they are talking about in order to sell the product.
Of course, Ethos and Logos alone are not enough to captivate the viewers of the commercial, so this advertisement also used the emotional component of Pathos. Although it uses was not as obvious and was more discreet, it was more effective in allowing the viewers to lean towards it. This was evident in the part of the video where the two women talk about their experiences with the product. First, they talk about problems they had which makes you feel pity towards them, or feel a connection with them if you have the same issue. Then they talk about how their issue was solved through the use of this product which immediately makes you feel happy for them but also the human sense of good guy bad guy kicks in and you view the company as a "good guy" beating the plaque or the "bad guy".
As you can see, just a simple TV commercial can utilize elements of persuasive language to effectively sell a product, why don't you have a look at other examples and explore language in your daily lives.
I decided to relate what I learned in class to the real world and find out to what extent Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are used in our lives. The most effective way to do so would be to analyze a persuasive commercial. The commercial that I chose was the Colgate Total Tv Advertisement as I believe it embodies all of the three components.
Colgate Total Ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULR68LTmbw#t=33.476513
First of all, I wanted to identify the audience targeted by the commercial. Since this commercial is more scientific based and logical, not creative and fun. I believe that it is targeted towards adults that could already be suffering from dental issues. This can also be extracted from the language used such as a reduction in plaque and gingivitis anticipating that the person is already affected by plaque and gingivitis. The language used is also advanced and subject specific which further supports the claim that the commercial is for adults that understand these terms. The people they choose to interview about their review on the product are also in a similar age group which is the mid-thirties to forties indicating that these are the people that should use their product. This age is also the age when tooth deterioration can become witnessed and is the age were cosmetic care is still highly valued, unlike when a person gets older and is not as concerned with how they look.
This commercial also does a great job utilizing Ethos effectively as can be seen throughout the video. Not only does the Ad use dentist recommendation and promotion, it also has short stories that back up the company claims, from users of the product about how the product has impacted their lives and helped them with their oral hygiene. Having a dentist or any medical specialist recommend the product is also very reassuring to people as they have always been viewed as credible sources as they are experts in their field.
Logos is also used in this commercial as statistics were used to back up what the dentist was saying about the product. The video also goes into as much detail as possible to explain how the product works so it seems more believable to people. Knowing how a product works to achieve what you want is always a good way to lure customers. The statistics also can be used by people as proof in order to tell themselves that this is a product that is worth the price and should be bought. the balance of Ethos and Logos is what makes the company creating the product seem like they now what they are talking about in order to sell the product.
Of course, Ethos and Logos alone are not enough to captivate the viewers of the commercial, so this advertisement also used the emotional component of Pathos. Although it uses was not as obvious and was more discreet, it was more effective in allowing the viewers to lean towards it. This was evident in the part of the video where the two women talk about their experiences with the product. First, they talk about problems they had which makes you feel pity towards them, or feel a connection with them if you have the same issue. Then they talk about how their issue was solved through the use of this product which immediately makes you feel happy for them but also the human sense of good guy bad guy kicks in and you view the company as a "good guy" beating the plaque or the "bad guy".
As you can see, just a simple TV commercial can utilize elements of persuasive language to effectively sell a product, why don't you have a look at other examples and explore language in your daily lives.
Hey Omar. I really enjoyed reading your blog post and find that your choice of advertisement was excellent for this topic. You have explained in detail how pathos, logos and ethos relate to the topic. I liked how you described pathos in the advertisement, I didn't pick up on it and it was analyzed well. To make your analysis stronger, try incorporating the new vocabulary we learned in class (the 15 appeals and etc.).
ReplyDeleteYou found a great example for the ethos, pathos, logos advertisement. For the pathos part, I do believe the advert tries to incorporate a fear factor; to discomfort the viewer with the symptoms before revealing that the product is the ideal solution
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