Ciara Smith
Oct. 17th 2014
English 101
Compton
Subaru Legacy "Jr. Driver": A Successful Advertisement We are subjected to the art of persuasion every day. Many times we do not even notice it. Every time we sit on the couch and watch television, in every commercial, break we begin to be persuaded. In every commercial the company has a small window of time to convince the audience to buy their product, donate to their charity, ect. With such a small amount of time the advertisement must use the art of persuasion correctly. The advertisement must utilize all the aspects of persuasion; knowing the audience, placement of the advertisement, and the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. Knowing the audience and knowing where and when the advertisement …show more content…
Certain advertisements are appropriate for different audience and places. Ethos are many times looked at first. Ethos are used to build up credibility. If the advertisement has no credibility the audience will not believe anything it is saying. Pathos, or the appeal to emotion, is an another important, but tricky part of the persuasion puzzle. "Tugging at the heart strings" or making your audience feel happy can be extremely helpful in persuading them, but if the pathos become too obvious it may seem like manipulation. What seals the advertisement together is the logos, or the appeals to logic. Aristotle, a Classical philosopher and rhetorician, believed that appealing to an audience's logic is the most important part of persuasion. If the audience believes the advertisements message is logical, they are most likely to comply with what the advertisement wants them to do. A combination of these factors can create a successful advertisement. One example of an …show more content…
Keeping the audience and placement of the advertisement as well as the rhetorical appeals can creative a successful advertisement. The trick is being able to combine all aspects effectively in a short time period of a commercial. One may never notice, but we are subjected to these appeals every day. Learning to identify these appeals can help the audience better understand what they are being told, and even make one become a better rhetor. The Subaru Legacy "Jr Driver" commercial is an example of the correct way to create an advertisement. The commercial is correctly geared towards the audience who will be buying their product. The commercial is played on appropriate stations the intended audience would be watching. The use of ethos establish credibility with the company, making the audience feel secure the company knows how to make a safe and reliable vehicle, and that the Legacy is the best choice for their family. The use of pathos makes the audience feel an emotional connection with the commercial and the vehicle. They see the happiness of the father and son, and want to feel that same happiness. Then the use of logos ties the entire advertisement together. The audience sees that vehicle will last the on screen family a long time. The audience wants to buy a vehicle that will last them a long time, so logically they should choose to buy the Subaru Legacy. When all of these appeals are combined, a successful