As I sit down
after a long week, honestly the only thing I want to do is sit back and have
some quality T.V. time. As I flip
through channel after channel, I realize that most of my time consists of
reality shows and commercials, and I can almost feel my brain cells slowly
dying. Call me outdated, but I did not realize that today’s media culture
demanded our knowledge to references such as “the Situation” instead of figures
such as Johnny Carson. What happened to the art of rhetoric? When did people
even lose their ability to recognize its usage, or even recognize the lack of
it?
When there is
such poor execution of rhetoric nowadays, it is difficult for us to even
recognize other forms in advertisements and media. We fail to even recognize
when this powerful tool is manipulating our emotions to buy a certain product. In
pathetic appeals (an advertiser’s favorite), rhetoricians tap a reader’s
sympathy, anger, desire, and all of the above to convince the audience of their
argument.
Take the company OLAY into consideration. The
advertisers of this company have perfected the use of pathos to drive a woman’s
desire to look flawless into a billion dollar company. With catchy slogans such as “challenge what’s
possible,” they lead their audience to believe that their products will
actually defy time and transform a women into this beautiful, but certainly
obtainable, object. There is an established audience, and for this reason the
advertisers knew exactly how to word the commercial. I don’t think this
commercial would have the same effect on men as it would their women
counterparts.
The advertisement also determines a sense of
security among the viewer’s for a renowned celebrity like Carrie Underwood.
Hiring celebrities as models for any product is a great way to draw the
audience into buying the product, especially women searching for
perfection. In a way, this advertisement
is like a political campaign with hidden agendas; we just fail most of the time
to recognize the rhetoric in such a form.
So just how effective is this execution of rhetoric?
Well, I know by my drawer full of beauty products that something motivated me
to go spend my paycheck on overpriced utensils.
I just wanted to say that your post definitely amused me. It is true, we don't notice the rhetoric that is being used on us. I think that is why it works so well though. When political campaigns come around, the public KNOWS that the politician is trying to persuade them to vote for him. But when an OLAY commercial comes on, its more obscure. You don't immediately get the idea "Oh, they are trying to persuade us." Unless you are specifically looking for the rhetoric involved, I think the general public would not even notice that it is there.
ReplyDeleteI laughed as I read this. To me commercials are a study in psychology. The companys put in all the stuff to draw our attention and make think that we NEED their products instead of just want. We can blame it on the susceptibility of the human mind that we want what we can't have. To make matters worse, we recognize that they just want our money yet we still spend it because our idols use it to. Its a shame yet we continue to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe ways in which commercials and advertisements word their language and their use of persuasion has always been comical to me. Like you've explained, they hold a target "audience" that most always they can persuade in their favor. There are so many ads out there a like this olay one that truly holds this "art" in rhetoric, and I think you did a great job at deciphering this piece as just what it is "hidden art." Love your title!!!
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