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Rhetorical Analysis

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Submitted By angie1095
Words 1920
Pages 8
Angelica Garcia
Instructor Albright
English 101
18 April 2015
Rhetorical Analysis of Pillow Pets
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2005), the average child watches about four hours of television a day and sees more than 20,000 commercials each year. "In 2000 alone, U.S. toy companies spent more than $837 million on advertising their products." (Shah, 2010, ). Pillow Pets have been around since 2003 (http://mypillowpets.com/about/), and have steadily built their brand through carefully crafted advertisements which appeal to children of all ages and genders, as well as their parents. "What began with the simple goal of transforming a simple stuffed animal into a functional item for children has grown into an amazing jungle of popular retail and wholesale products." (http:/mypillowpets.com/about/)
The widespread allure of the Pillow Pet is the key to its success, as evidenced by their successful internet commercial. It hits all the right notes, including the "Four Ps" of marketing which include product, place, price and promotion. (Calvert, 2008, p. 206) The ad incorporates "production features like lively action and sounds designed to grab a child's attention" (Calvert, 2008) For example, consider the upbeat, female voice used in describing the Pillow Pet. The marketer's message is delivered loud and clear, via a pleasant female voice, possibly of a mother who knows what a child wants and needs, who also understands that parents need justification to buy a pillow pet for their child. "In the U.S., research from the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased." (Shah, 2010) The fact that the marketers know this is clearly evident in the ad by the kind, but authoritative tone of the speaker, not asking or commanding, but firmly directing viewers to "say hello to the Pillow Pet."
Consider next that the ad incorporates a cheerful, repetitive, catchy jingle which builds "familiarity with the product and, therefore, increases the probability of purchasing and using it." (Calvert, 2008, p. 208) Also according to Calvert (2008), "Studies have found that children aged three to eight were more attentive to commercials that were higher in audio than in video complexity." The message used in the jingle is direct and easy for a child to understand. It is sung by a group of children and quite simply states, "It's a pillow. It's a pet. It's a Pillow Pet." As mentioned, a strategy to get a child's attention is use of repetition. (Calvert, 2008) During the course of the commercial, children are shown hugging, stroking or sleeping on their Pillow Pets thirty-three times. Of course, there is more than one form of repetition going on as it relates to the ad itself. Another method of repetition not featured in the commercial, but used by the company, includes repeating the commercial during a single commercial break or throughout a single program to reinforce the message. (Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, 2004)
Toy advertisements are notorious for exaggerating a toy's performance, and the Pillow Pet commercial is no exception. For adults, a Pillow Pet is obviously not a pet, but for a child young child, it is quite possible that the Pillow Pet could be construed as an actual pet. The photography shows the pets' Velcro straps being torn open by smiling, children, all between the ages of two and approximately six or seven. Interestingly, Calvert (2008) suggests it is during the stage of preoperational thought, roughly from age two to age seven, in which young children use animistic thinking, believing that imaginary events and characters can be real. Given the images projected in the ad, and particularly one sequence showing Pillow Pets popping open, it is easy to miss the swift, almost undetectable hand, moving in and out of each frame to unfasten the Velcro strap. The attention-grabbing technique of using animated stars and magical-sounding chimes only adds to the enchanted effect. (Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, 2004) And as if all of that doesn't evoke an emotional response from a child, the ad directs consumers to "adopt your Pillow Pet today," as if the Pillow Pet were a real animal.
Between the ages of three and seven, children gradually draw clearer distinctions between what is real and what is imaginary, and their attention can be held longer. (Chandler, 1997) This is also usually the time they make their first independent purchase. These children have become increasingly attractive to marketers because they have their own significant sources of income acquired through allowances and gifts. (Calvert, 2008) To that end, when it comes to the language used to market the Pillow Pet, the advertisers speak directly to the child consumer in their own language. They bombard children with adjectives normally used in reference to stuffed toys such as cute, huggable, soft, and cuddly, concurrently reinforcing the message by flashing the words "soft and cuddly" on the screen. This technique is replicated several times throughout the advertisement, with expressions displayed across in a kid-friendly font, each followed by an exclamation mark. Following this, the ad shows a hand smoothing the pastel chenille fabric to still further emphasize this message through visual means.
Marketers understand the need child consumers have for something new, for acceptance, for being noticed, for change, to become attractive, and for the ideal family and ideal kids. The bandwagon approach is used as "a form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to join the crowd or be on the winning side." (Management Style Guide, 2008) The advertisement makes use of this strategy informing viewers that "over a million kids are already enjoying their very own Pillow Pet," and panning to a shot of some girls at a sleepover party, each laying on a Pillow Pet. This could easily lead young children to think that in order to fit in with their peers, they will need a Pillow Pet too.
An effective marketing technique that appeals to both parents and children is use of diversity. This is achieved by incorporating different races and nationalities into the imaginary to reflect the product's universal appeal. The Pillow Pets advertisement scored well in this category by representing several races and nationalities as well as both genders. "When it comes to gender, toys for girls are generally presented in an indoor setting with an adult present, while toys ads directed at boys typically show the toy in an outdoor setting, with a boy playing without adult supervision." (Nzegwu, 2000) The Pillow Pets commercial stays true to form by clearly defining the gender characteristics of each Pillow Pet based on the setting. The masculine Pillow Pets were all filmed outdoors, with the green frog and the brown dog both photographed on grass. The brown monkey that looked to be climbing a tree was later shown being held by a little boy in a tree. In contrast, the decidedly feminine, light purple unicorn and the pink pig were both located on beds featuring pastel linens.
The advertisement's messages to adults address moms and grandparents, noticeably circumventing dads. In a shot showing a girl enjoying a game of dress-up and tea party with her Pillow Pet, the ad appeals to overworked parents by describing it as "fun and easy," implying that an adult's help or involvement will not be needed when their child plays with their pillow pet. The same message is communicated during a scene in which a toddler boy unfastens his Pillow Pet without any help. These are both shrewd tactics given today's economic pressures require households to work many more hours to support themselves than in the past, detracting from parent's time for their children. In the same vein, this ad puts pressure on those same overworked parents to respond to their child's desire to assuage their guilt. In other words, the Pillow Pets advertisement effectively "makes kids want what they don't need and puts a lot of pressure on parents to respond to those needs." (Shah, 2010)
In their appeal to adults, the Pillow Pet marketers incorporate language that speaks to parents' pragmatism, emphasizing the Pillow Pet's versatility when it comes to "playtime, sleep time, or anytime." Reason and logic are further drawn upon with phrases such as "great for kids of all ages" paired with a image of teens hanging out on bed, followed by another scene of a toddler reaching out for her Pillow Pet. The advertisement suggests that the Pillow Pet is "perfect for the overnight trips to Grandma's house," an idea supported by a sequence of pajamas being folded into the Pillow Pet. Additionally, phrases such as "this is a pillow that your child or grandchild will use every night," and "it's a pet with a purpose," reinforce the rationale. As the word "durability" flashes across the screen, a pair of hands pries at the stitching to demonstrate the quality of the product. Another message aimed at parents is of a woman putting a Pillow Pet into a washing machine while the narration describes the Pillow Pet as "machine washable." And if all of that isn't enough to convince an adult to buy a Pillow Pet, consider the price. It is hard to argue that it is "the perfect $20 gift for any special occasion."
According to Calvert (2008), "Before they reach the age of eight, children believe that the purpose of commercials to help them in their purchasing decisions; they are unaware that commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products." A typical television advertisement in the U.S. is thirty seconds, but the Pillow Pets commercial two minutes long. Although on the surface it would appear an advertisement of this length risks losing child's interest, studies have shown that two-year olds do not recognize the beginnings and endings of programs, and children between the ages of five and eight continue to pay attention to when commercials come on. At first glance, the Pillow Pet commercial looks amateur and cheap. However, when viewed through the lenses of logos, ethos, and a great deal of pathos, the Pillow Pet advertisement is very persuasive to both children and adults.

Work Cited
Advertising Educational Foundation. (2005). Advertising to children. Retrieved from http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3005
Calvert, S. (2008). Children as consumers: advertising and marketing. The Future of Children, Vol. 18, No. 1. Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalij=32&articleid=62&sectionid=304
Chandler, D. (1997). Children's understanding of what is "real" on television: a review of literature. Retrieved from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/realrev.html
Hollis, L. (2007, Jan 19). When toys take over. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/jan/20/familyandrelationships.family1
Management Study Guide. (2008). Advertising techniques - 13 most common techniques used by the advertisers. Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-techniques.htm
Nzegwu, U. (2000, May 15). Gender in toy commercials. Retrieved from http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~WS30/WS30F2000/toyads.html
(http://mypillowpets.com/message-from-the-founder/)
(http:/mypillowpets.com/about/)
Shah, A. (2010, November 21). Children as consumers. Retrieved from Speaker Presentation Online Web site: http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3005
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. (2004). Toy ads on television. Retrieved from http://datcp.wi.gov/uploads/Consumer/pdf/ToyAdsOnTv191.pdf

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