Post It In the Office or In the Bedroom
As time has gone by, advertisement agencies have evolved to appeal to the masses, but as the trends have changed, Aristotle’s three methods of persuasion Ethos, Logos, and Pathos have remained constant throughout the years. As Ethos appeals to the audience’s moral compass and character, Pathos appeals to their emotions, and Logos appeals the logic of the individual in order to jointly make an impression on each reader. These three methods of persuasion have remained throughout the evolution of advertising, and with the impact they allow advertisements to make, they will continue to be a constant aspect of advertising in the future. This Post It advertisement is a humorous appeal to the everyday reader. The average person, young or old, cannot wait for the weekend and the adventures that come along with it. This particular aspect of those adventures deal with the morning after releasing all of that weekday angst. That awkward moment when you wake up and want to know what happened, where it happened, and who with. Whether they had a one night stand or simply were too inebriated to remember a new friend’s name, everyone has had an awkward moment like this pictured above. The note attached to the woman’s forehead seems to be the key to avoid such an awkward situation and being a bad host. This advertisement implies that with Post It notes in hand, the reader will not have to worry about seeming like a bad person and that if unavoidable, these notes will help to aid whatever situation comes their way. The advertisement also uses Pathos to exploit each reader’s emotions. The embarrassment, shame, and confused feelings that each person experiences when confronted with this type of situation are exactly what Pathos is appealing to. This picture portrays a mortifying situation, but the Post It note saves the pictured man of such an embarrassing moment, and implies it may be able to do the same for the audience as well. No one likes to feel uncomfortable or hurt someone’s feelings, and this advertisement is specially designed to imply that Post It notes will help everyone to avoid or better deal with situations, like this one, that may become awkward and embarrassing. Logos is the last of Aristotle’s appeals used in this clever Post It note advertisement. While already shown how this brand can help spare your emotions and character, it is also a very logical product. Everyone has forgetful moments or needs a scrap piece of paper to write something down, and this is the perfect product for such situations. It is portable enough to take from the office, to the bar, and even all the way back home. The goal of this is to lead the reader to think that if these notepads are easy enough to keep track of even while drinking, then they must be an essential and Godsend product. The logic of a frugal everyday person is to “stretch their dollar” as much as possible, and this advertisement states that these products are versatile, useful, and that logically, they are the obvious choice. This particular advertisement has been a very good example of a main advertising principle. The point being made is that Aristotle’s three appeals can make an advertisement applicable to everyone and will therefore remain a constant aspect of modern advertisement. These three types of appeals encourage different parts of the reader’s individual self in order to better sell the product to them, and while the trends may change, these three appeals will remain principles aspects of the advertising industry as long as it exists. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are essentially what separate the posters on the street light from the billboards of the world.