HW 1/26

The text “Everything’s an Argument” states, when arguing with pathos “some emotional appeals are just ploys to win over readers with pretty face, figurative or real.” This quote describes the primary tactic most add campaigns are using to influence us to buy their products.

The text gives an example of a soda add which subliminally promises an exciting life and attractive friends if you buy their product. In the mainstream media, emotional ploys indicating that happiness comes from a certain product are used regularly in commercial advertising. When was the last time you saw a commercial for a sporty car without an attractive woman in the passenger seat? Or a fast food commercial with an obese person gorging on a burger? Through the use of subliminal placement of desirable things, an attractive girlfriend or a fit physique, in advertising, the product becomes more appealing to the consumer audience. Advertising firms know this, thus the use of subliminal messaging in advertising has become the norm.

The text states that if we pause to think about the message behind advertisements, we shouldn’t be fooled by their claims. However in advertising today commercials rarely last more than 45 seconds, making it almost impossible to dissect meaning from an add before another one starts blaring in our face. The fact that television advertisements today are shortened to less than a minute benefits the advertisers in several ways. As already stated, it doesn’t give the consumer any time to reflect on the ad so, the consumer only comes away with his initial reaction to the advertisement. Also short advertisements are generally more exciting to the consumer. Two minute long infomercials focusing on the logos of buying a certain novelty products appear cliché and bore the consumer. Whereas, a 20 second car insurance commercial with the GIECO gecko can almost be seen as entertainment.