Persuasion Identification:
 Trident Gum – logos, ethos
 Wheaties – logos, ethos
 Visa – pathos, ethos
 Breath Savers – pathos
 Double Mint Gum – pathos
 Pepsi – pathos, ethos
 SPCA – ethos, pathos, logos
 Velveeta – pathos
 Wesson Oil – ethos, logos
 Shift Happens 2.0 – ethos, logos, pathos
 Shift Happens 4.0 – ethos, logos, pathos
1. How did you do on evaluating the persuasive appeal(s) in each television
commercial? Overall, I did pretty well on evaluating the persuasive appeals
in each television commercial. There were some that I struggled with
because it was difficult to understand the people speaking in the
commercials. For example, the Pepsi and Velveeta songs played very quickly,
making it hard to understand the lyrics and therefore somewhat difficult to
analyze those commercials.
2. Which commercial stands out the most? Why do you think it does? What
persuasive appeal(s) did it have? The commercials that stood out the most
to me were the double mint gum, Pepsi, and Velveeta advertisements. These
three commercials have catchy music which attracts the listener. Also, the
SPCA commercial stood out to me because of the sad pictures and music,
which encourage the listener to pay attention to the advertisement as well
as touch their heart, encouraging them to help. All four of these
commercials effectively utilized the persuasive appeal of pathos.
3. How important are persuasive appeals? Persuasive appeals are critical as
they help businesses to capture peoples’ attention to either change their
point of view or to move them to take some certain action. Persuasive
appeals help to pull people in, increasing the level of business for companies
around the globe. The helps to keep companies up and running financially.
Without persuasive appeals, most companies wouldn’t have the same level of
business. Therefore, these appeals help to ensure financial success for the
companies.
4. Choose two commercials- evaluate the effectiveness of the message.
First, identify the message of the commercial. Then analyze how words,
images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact
the purpose and message of media. Use short answer response format
when responding.
 Six Flags – The message of this commercial is that there are both
times for work and for play. The goal of the advertisement,
accomplished through logos and pathos forms of rhetoric, is to let the
viewer know that if he or she is interested in a great time, Six Flags is
the place to be. The combination of the catchy music as well as the
unique storyline organization of the commercial really helps to grab the
viewer’s attention. The words also pull the reader in, because lots of
people have that same opinion of work and play as stated in the
commercial and, therefore, become interested. Finally, the images of
the Six Flags park and all of the people having fun in a clean
environment spark the viewer’s interest, encouraging him/her to go.
This very well created advertisement is full of persuasion. It’s enough
to make me want to go!
 Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee - “One taste and you’ll understand” is the
message made clear by the simplistic nature of the Dunkin’ Donuts
Coffee commercial. From the eye-catching nature of the tugging
coffee cup early in the commercial to the catchy whistling tune, the
commercial effectively uses silence (absence of the spoken word) to
force the viewer to watch closely as the woman is drawn to purchase
Dunkin’ Coffee to brew at home. In this situation, primarily the pathos
form of rhetoric is used effectively to promote Dunkin’ Coffee as the
one “America runs on”.