What is this Ad Actually Trying to Say?

Hello and welcome to another post! For the past several weeks in our English class, we have been discussing rhetorical analysis. We looked at writing and speeches such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” I know that rhetorical analysis is integrated into every argument, no matter the form or context. However, does it extend beyond the speeches and essays we analyze in an academic setting?

One of the most important things I learned from this unit is that rhetorical analysis can be used in every aspect of our lives. Think of the last time you tried to convince a friend to go to the beach with you, or that one time you talked with your professor about raising your grade. In those situations, you were using rhetorical devices to convince your audience of your purpose (the italicized words are all directly related to rhetorical analysis as well; we want to find the speaker’s purpose, recognize their target audience, and determine if they were successful in their persuasion). We use rhetorical techniques in our daily conversations even if we don’t realize it!

Applying this tool outside the classroom was kind of eye-opening for me. During this unit, I remembered a topic covered in one of my high school English classes. In that class, we discussed tactics used by advertisement companies to design their ads. They included techniques such as transfer, rhetorical questions, hyperbole, bandwagon, and more. These are all rhetorical devices! The purpose of ads is to persuade people to buy their product and they each target a specific audience. Let’s look at an example.

This is a Pantene ad targeted at women with (or who want) long hair, telling them to buy Pantene’s shampoo and conditioner. There are a lot of things going on in this photo, but I will discuss a few in particular. First is the fact that Selena Gomez is modeling for the picture. When potential buyers see that Selena Gomez is associating with this brand, that she’s using these products, of course they will want to buy them as well! If Selena’s doing it, so will they! (What’s sneaky about this is there’s no way to tell if she actually used Pantene on her hair before the photo shoot.) Second is the effective use of colors. The layout is very clean, and emphasizes white and gold. Gold signifies wealth and richness, again reflecting positively on Pantene’s products. There are several other devices used in this ad, but where’s the fun in me telling you all the answers? Try and find some on your own! Also, feel free to take a closer look at some of the ads you see on Instagram and apply the rhetorical analysis we have been using in the classroom.

What do you think of using rhetorical analysis in non-academic environments? How important is it to you? Do you have a favorite ad, or one you think is just ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below!

Clarissa