Rhetoric in Advertisement
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Advertisements use rhetoric to persuade people to purchase or use their product. To provide a better understanding of how businesses use rhetoric in their advertisement, I will explain how rhetoric is used in commercials, and tell what elements are used to persuade the audience effectively. Rhetoric in ads is used to influence an audience by targeting a specific group of people, visual imagery, and connecting to their audiences’ emotional appeals.
In all advertisement or commercials, the purpose is to persuade people to purchase or use their product, but what elements are used that makes someone do what he or she wants. A commercial is a short video that tries to convince anyone who watches to do what they want them too, and commercials use visuals that seem appealing and desirable to get the attention of their audience. The elements used in ads is what makes them persuasive, for example, a commercial trying to sell you a product such as a duct tape will show how durable and why you should buy duct tape. Duct tape may not even be on your shopping list, but because you saw who many ways the duct tape was used and how effective it looked. Another factor that can help persuade the audience is how the product is presented in the commercial. Hernández Olmedo and José Luis authors of Axiological Relationships between Audio-Visual Political and Commercial Messages in Spain from 2008 to 2015 stated “Similarly, Chabrol and Radu (2008), Liberman (2001) and McGuire (1968) believe that thoughts, customs, emotions, and traditions should be considered, because the audience is not a passive public, but a set of subjects that is in constant change, with people changing their attitudes and opinions as their interests and needs change.” (pg.108) Each advertisement has its objective, and with each one there is a different audience.
Depending on what a commercial or advertisement is for, there will be a specific targeted audience because not everybody has the same interest or opinions. The reasons for ads and commercials are to persuade as many people of the targeted group possible, and because so many people have access to the internet, it is most useful to create ads that are accessible on the internet. According to Olmedo and Luis, “it is a mistake to define modern society as an impersonal and general mass, especially if they are developed societies,” so what the authors are saying is that ads can persuade people because it is an ad targeted for them. For example, a Republican campaign ad will say anything that current Republicans, or people who are not sure what political party they belong in, wants to hear. It is the same way for a democratic campaign ad, but what the two have in common is that they target a specific audience. According to D.G. Kehl author of The Electric Carrot: The Rhetoric of Advertisement, “Advertisement, in seeking to advert and convert, averts and diverts, turns attention from the unpleasant,” which means that in order to connect with the targeted audience, ads only show what the audience wants to see or hear. That is what makes advertising so effective, by targeting a particular group of people, political advertisements can persuade people to do or purchase what they want them too. That is what makes commercials or any advertisements so powerful; it’s because they're used as a tool to persuade a specific group to do what they want them too.
However, it is not enough to target a specific group, commercials and ads must be appealing to the audience. One of the most effective and strongest appeal to use in ads is the emotional appeal. There are many emotions that connect with the audience, but the most common emotions that are used in an advertisement is joy, anger, and sadness. For example, Sarah McLachlan’s Animal Cruelty commercial uses sad images of injured puppies, starving dogs, and dogs with missing limbs to make the viewer feel sorry for these animals. McLachlan does not just use sad imagery in her commercial, and she also uses a song called “In The Arms Of An Angel” is an emotional song that adds on to the ads saddening mood. Even though McLachlan’s commercial made viewers feel sad or upset, she was able to raise over thirty million dollars in the first two years the ad was aired. McLachlan’s commercial was so effective is persuading her audience she raised millions of dollars towards a good cause; however, this is a clear example of how powerful rhetoric is in an ad.
Rhetoric in advertisements is used to persuade an audience by targeting a specific group of people, visual imagery, and connecting to their audiences’ emotional appeals. Advertisements are used as a tool to communicate to a particular audience to easily persuade them to do what the ad wants them to do by saying or showing things the audience may already agree with. What is also done in ads is the use of emotional manipulation through visual aids and other elements in ads. The reason why advertisements are so powerful is its ability to convince a group of people to do what that ad wants them to do, and when rhetoric is used correctly, it can affect an entire nation.
Works Cited
Hernández Olmedo and José Luis. Axiological Relationships between Audio-Visual Political and
Commercial Messages in Spain from 2008 to 2015. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies. 2017
D.G. Kehl. The Electric Carrot: The Rhetoric of Advertisement. College Composition and
Communication. 1975
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Advertisements use rhetoric to persuade people to purchase or use their product. To provide a better understanding of how businesses use rhetoric in their advertisement, I will explain how rhetoric is used in commercials, and tell what elements are used to persuade the audience effectively. Rhetoric in ads is used to influence an audience by targeting a specific group of people, visual imagery, and connecting to their audiences’ emotional appeals.
In all advertisement or commercials, the purpose is to persuade people to purchase or use their product, but what elements are used that makes someone do what he or she wants. A commercial is a short video that tries to convince anyone who watches to do what they want them too, and commercials use visuals that seem appealing and desirable to get the attention of their audience. The elements used in ads is what makes them persuasive, for example, a commercial trying to sell you a product such as a duct tape will show how durable and why you should buy duct tape. Duct tape may not even be on your shopping list, but because you saw who many ways the duct tape was used and how effective it looked. Another factor that can help persuade the audience is how the product is presented in the commercial. Hernández Olmedo and José Luis authors of Axiological Relationships between Audio-Visual Political and Commercial Messages in Spain from 2008 to 2015 stated “Similarly, Chabrol and Radu (2008), Liberman (2001) and McGuire (1968) believe that thoughts, customs, emotions, and traditions should be considered, because the audience is not a passive public, but a set of subjects that is in constant change, with people changing their attitudes and opinions as their interests and needs change.” (pg.108) Each advertisement has its objective, and with each one there is a different audience.
Depending on what a commercial or advertisement is for, there will be a specific targeted audience because not everybody has the same interest or opinions. The reasons for ads and commercials are to persuade as many people of the targeted group possible, and because so many people have access to the internet, it is most useful to create ads that are accessible on the internet. According to Olmedo and Luis, “it is a mistake to define modern society as an impersonal and general mass, especially if they are developed societies,” so what the authors are saying is that ads can persuade people because it is an ad targeted for them. For example, a Republican campaign ad will say anything that current Republicans, or people who are not sure what political party they belong in, wants to hear. It is the same way for a democratic campaign ad, but what the two have in common is that they target a specific audience. According to D.G. Kehl author of The Electric Carrot: The Rhetoric of Advertisement, “Advertisement, in seeking to advert and convert, averts and diverts, turns attention from the unpleasant,” which means that in order to connect with the targeted audience, ads only show what the audience wants to see or hear. That is what makes advertising so effective, by targeting a particular group of people, political advertisements can persuade people to do or purchase what they want them too. That is what makes commercials or any advertisements so powerful; it’s because they're used as a tool to persuade a specific group to do what they want them too.
However, it is not enough to target a specific group, commercials and ads must be appealing to the audience. One of the most effective and strongest appeal to use in ads is the emotional appeal. There are many emotions that connect with the audience, but the most common emotions that are used in an advertisement is joy, anger, and sadness. For example, Sarah McLachlan’s Animal Cruelty commercial uses sad images of injured puppies, starving dogs, and dogs with missing limbs to make the viewer feel sorry for these animals. McLachlan does not just use sad imagery in her commercial, and she also uses a song called “In The Arms Of An Angel” is an emotional song that adds on to the ads saddening mood. Even though McLachlan’s commercial made viewers feel sad or upset, she was able to raise over thirty million dollars in the first two years the ad was aired. McLachlan’s commercial was so effective is persuading her audience she raised millions of dollars towards a good cause; however, this is a clear example of how powerful rhetoric is in an ad.
Rhetoric in advertisements is used to persuade an audience by targeting a specific group of people, visual imagery, and connecting to their audiences’ emotional appeals. Advertisements are used as a tool to communicate to a particular audience to easily persuade them to do what the ad wants them to do by saying or showing things the audience may already agree with. What is also done in ads is the use of emotional manipulation through visual aids and other elements in ads. The reason why advertisements are so powerful is its ability to convince a group of people to do what that ad wants them to do, and when rhetoric is used correctly, it can affect an entire nation.
Works Cited
Hernández Olmedo and José Luis. Axiological Relationships between Audio-Visual Political and
Commercial Messages in Spain from 2008 to 2015. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies. 2017
D.G. Kehl. The Electric Carrot: The Rhetoric of Advertisement. College Composition and
Communication. 1975
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