I first
saw the above commercial while watching a college basketball game on television.
This is yet another commercial for a product that has virtually zero
information about the product, but includes ethos and pathos bids that somehow
get the product sold. I’ll discuss the rhetorical points about the commercial,
and though I would like to avoid a diatribe, I want to point out this
commercial as a trend in advertising.
Shaquille
O’Neal was a famous basketball player that retired recently, who had a
decorated record in the NBA. This gives the advertisement a good angle for
ethos, since he is so well known as a basketball player and celebrity. Not only
is this important as far as the credibility of the advertisement, but the
kairos calls for a basketball player, since the commercial was aired during a
basketball game. Aside from ethos, the pathos of the advertisement is satisfied
by O’Neal’s the heartwarming recollection of coaching children, and the humor
involved in the “defensive strategy” he talks about. So that’s ethos and pathos…
But what about logos?
The
unfortunate truth is that there is little logos in the advertisement. Yes,
there is some brand recognition by showing the Dove trademark, but otherwise,
what does this advertisement say about the product it is pushing on its audience?
Like the Geico commercial from a previous post, this commercial has just about
no useful information about its product. So as a way to make this blog more
interesting than a few words on a screen, let’s open discussion: Is the lack of
logos in advertising these days a problem, and if so, does the root of the
problem lie with those producing the advertisements, or those consuming the
advertisements?
Ben I think it's really interesting that you comment about how the kairos calls for a basketball player, since the commercial aired during a basketball game. I would not have immediately though of this, but it makes perfect sense. When you think about it, this commercial would have been completely ineffective if it were aired during different programming. For example, if it were aired during a soap opera, it would have been very unsuccessful, because a soap opera's audience is unlikely to know or recognize Shaq as a credible figure.
ReplyDeleteI think that ads such as this one don't call for logos as much as ethos or pathos. Most people see Shaq, hear his story about coaching children, and are hooked. They think "If it's good enough for Shaq, who coached children's basketball, then it's good enough for me!"
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