Language of Persuasion

Examples of Persuasive Advertisements:

BASIC:


1. Experts:  The Colgate ad shows a testimonial done for toothpaste carried out by 'experts'.  This ad shows the experts as being dentists since they are those most associated with teeth care and shows the certified by PDA check mark making viewers rely on this ad to advise them about the best toothpaste decision.  This ad is useful as it shows dentists and the PDA as credible sources for people to believe that this is the best.


2. Fear: This ad used fear of the audience to promote a solution.  The fear is a hurt/dead child while the promoted solution is a speed limit of 30 miles per hour.  This is useful because it uses a child leading to a useful scare tactic in order to promote the claim of having people drive 30 miles per hour, instead of for example 40 miles per hour.  


3. Plain Folks: This advertisement used a 'plain folk' making the product relateable to the regular people in the world.  Unlike, celebrity endorsements this Subway ad uses a 'regular' person to market their food.  This ad is useful because it shows that Subway is interested in the average consumer and shows that just like the 'plain folk' in the ad, you too can 'make history'.


4. Celebrities: This advertisement shows Jennifer Aniston as the endorser for Aveeno's product.  She is used to advertise for Aveeno simply because she is a beautiful famous celebrity.  People pay attention to celebrities and wish to emulate their actions.  This ad is useful because it makes it seem as though if you use this product you will end up looking like Jennifer Aniston.


INTERMEDIATE:


1. Flattery:  This advertisement persuades the viewers to buy this mascara "because you're worth it".  This is a good way of getting someone to buy a product because it shows praise to the buyer.  Also, typically people appeal to situations that make them feel good or feel praise.  This ad is useful because it makes the buyer feel like they are worth something good, therefore making them likely to buy a product that is worthy to them.


2. Name-Calling: This advertisement uses the technique of name-calling by saying that 'i' products, example, iPhone, iPod, etc. make someone an idiot.  This is a persuasive technique as it associates idiots with people that use those products.  This ad also points out how "i" products are so much more expensive than those that are not "i" products making the comparison that you're also an 'idiot' if you are willing to spend more for the same thing.  This ad is useful because the word idiot is a negative word comparing the "i" product buyers/users to the name-calling word of idiots.



3. New: This advertisement shows exactly how as a culture we associate old with boring and new with exciting.  This company if you look closely seems to have just changed the direction of their product making it 'new'.  However, at a glance one would choose this product of the company's opposed to the other kind simple because it is 'new'.  This ad is successful because in the United States we place great faith in new products and new ideas.


4. Nostalgia: This advertisement is the opposite of 'new' and makes the audience crave simpler times, bringing them back to when they were young.  Remembering how "great" the world was.  Trump campaign promises to bring back the "good old days" and his followers jump on to the nostalgic ways and old time traditions.  This advertisement works despite Trump being a new presidential candidate because his slogan is 'old' reminding people of the good times from the past.


ADVANCED:



1. Scapegoating: This ad shows that the United States loss of jobs is due to work being exported to China.  Scapegoating is used here to claim that the loss of jobs in the United States is 'only' due to China.  This mindset does not acknowledge any other possibility for the reason of lost jobs in the United States.  This is useful because it takes the attention off of the United States by pointing blame elsewhere, this is often used in political situations.


2. Timing: This ad was run around Halloween making timing key to the products success.  The delivery of this timing is important because it would look like Pepsi was trying to be Coca-Cola at any other time of the year, however, because of timing this ad shows that being Coca-Cola is 'scary'.  This is useful because it is carefully-timed to grab the attention, demonstrate that Pepsi should be the desired brand, and generates a response, for example funny because of the dressing up of a soda can.


3. Ad Hominem: This ad shows the use of attacking the opponent instead of the argument.  In this ad approved by Obama, he attacked Romney by saying that he is directing "the problem" instead of attacking the argument, or lack of argument, that Romney produced. This is useful because it allows for the audience to belief that there is something wrong with Romney, since he 'must be' a problem.

 
4. Analogy: This ad compares an unwashed tomato to a bomb.  These two situations being compared shows that not washing your fruits and vegetables can be just as dangerous in the long run as a deadly weapon.  This uses emotionally-charged images because you would never feed a loved one a deadly weapon- so why would you feed them unwashed food.  This ad is useful because it shows a comparison between the unwashed food and a harmful weapon, demonstrating the correspondence between the two. 

Bad Advertisement

1. This ad is bad advertising as it demonstrates that there is an expectation for girls and boys- even at a young age.  The fact that Gap- a well known company, was able to publish this advertisement is awful.  This shows a bad ad by stereotyping the young girl as needing to be a 'social butterfly'.  While, stereotyping the young boy as the 'little scholar'.  This ad is not 'bad' like some others that are funny or sexually inappropriate, however, this bad is bad because it shows that as a culture that even well known companies feel that they can continue spotlighting girls to be nothing more than social.  This forces girls to remain in this societal bubble of social instead of allow girls to spread their wings and learn for themselves that they are capable of being the spotlight as a little scholar.


2. This ad from Victoria's Secret is very misleading.  I felt that in order to understand how bad this ad from Victoria's Secret is it needed to be compared to the Dove Ad that shows true, real beauty.  This Victoria's Secret ad shows titled "love my body campaign" shows the audience that only the perfect skinny, toned body is worth loving.  This ad is seen by men, women, and children.  This makes men feel as though the Victoria's Secret ad demonstrates what women should look like.  This makes women feel that they can only love their body if it looks like these women.  Finally, this teaches children from an early age that either women are only worth loving if they look like this or that women in order to be loved need to look like this.