Fallacies in Advertising
Our lives are inundated with images that are designed with one purpose in mind
– to sell. This is an opportunity to look critically at the advertisements that
surround us in order to deconstruct the logical fallacies that fall under the guise
of “marketing strategies”. The purpose of this assignment is to have students
look critically at the media that surrounds us and to examine the fallacies which
make modern advertisements so powerful.
Students will be given some class time to look at different advertisements using
a variety of media types however you are encouraged to examine ads that you
see regularly throughout a typical day. These can include: subway/bus
advertisements, radio ads, television commercials, newspaper/magazine ads etc.
You must recognize the target audience, the types of fallacies that are being
implemented and why they are so effective in a chart form such as this:
Advertisement
Slogan
Fallacy used
Target
Audience
Message/
Effectiveness
Attachments of the advertisements examined are appreciated but not necessary.
Students must recognize at least 3 different types of fallacies that are used in
advertisements today.
In addition you are required to write a short (2-3 pages, typed and doublespaced) position paper on the logical fallacy that you feel is the most widely used
and the most effective. Try to address the following questions:

Who is the target audience? Would this fallacy be more effective on a
different target audience?

What is the hidden message behind the advertisements? (eg. does it
target insecurities of weight, wealth, style etc.)


What type of media does this fallacy dominate? (eg. purely t.v. ads or is it
also used on the radio, during political speeches, everyday conversation
etc.)
If we accept logical fallacies so casually what does that say about our
society?
Due Date:
Rubric:
Understanding
of Logical
Fallacies
Analysis of
Fallacies
within the
media
Identification
of Target
audience and
it’s relation to
the type of
fallacy used
Writing Style
and
Conventions
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Many (>5)
logical fallacies
have been
analysed,
student
demonstrates
extensive
comprehension
of various
fallacies
Fallacies have
been
appropriately
applied to
advertisements
with a high
degree of
effectiveness
Target audience
is correctly
identified and
supported with
strong
arguments from
the writer;
analysis of fallacy
in relation to
target audience
is highly
convincing
Student
demonstrates
excellent
persuasive
writing
techniques and
follows
conventions of
writing with a
high degree of
effectiveness
4-5 logical
fallacies have
been analyzed;
student
demonstrates
good
comprehension
of various
fallacies
3-4 logical
fallacies have
been analyzed
and
appropriately;
student
demonstrates
some
comprehension
of logical fallacies
Fallacies have
been applied to
ads with some
effectiveness
<3 logical
fallacies have
been analyzed;
student
demonstrates
limited
comprehension
of logical fallacies
Target audience
is correctly
identified and
supported with
good arguments
from the writer;
analysis of fallacy
in relation to
target audience
is convincing
Target audience
is identified and
supported with
some good
arguments from
the writer;
analysis of fallacy
in relation to
target audience
is somewhat
convincing
Identification of
target audience
is somewhat
unclear; analysis
of fallacy in
relation to target
audience
demonstrates
limited
persuasiveness
Student
demonstrates
good persuasive
writing
techniques and
follows
conventions of
writing with
considerable
effectiveness
Student
demonstrates
some persuasive
writing
techniques and
follows
conventions of
writing with
some
effectiveness
There are several
flaws in both
writing styles and
grammatical
conventions.
Argument
demonstrates
limited
persuasive skill.
Fallacies have
been
appropriately
applied to ads
with considerable
effectiveness
Fallacies have
been applied to
ads with limited
effectiveness.