Advertisement Analysis

     The ad my group and I choose for this english assignment was chocolate milk.(http://adflip.com/addetails.php?adID=14404&showLargeJpg=yes)  Many people view the milk ads, like in most schools and lunch rooms, are very boring to look at every day for a few years, but this ad brought several great examples of ethos, logos, and pathos.  The milk advertisement focuses mainly on the lines of nobody can live without milk, it's a building block of life.  The use of the famous show Fear Factor's host, helps the reader understand the serious reality of the importance of drinking milk, the use of a television shows host makes the advertisement seem well thought of and well done.

     Ethos, which is one of the commonly used persuasive appeals, is demonstrated by the use of the host of Fear Factor this is seriously presented in the ad to show how serious milk is.  Celebrity endorsements help the reader feel better about the ad because it gives the product more credit.  When most people see the use of a celebrity or host on the front of the ad then buyers see this as an opportunity to be just like them. 
Another example of ethos is how the guy in the ad's career on Fear Factor proves he's fearless, and that gives the reader an idea that if they drink chocolate they can be fearless too.  This ad along with most other ads are very misleading because they mislead consumers of products to think that if they buy this they can be a celebrity too, but in reality they can not.

     Another one of Aristotle's rhetorical appeals, pathos, which is emotions, is used in the chocolate milk advertisement.  One of the most obvious uses of the persuasive tactic, pathos, is the ad features a very handsome man in the center of the ad, drawing in the attention of women.  Women would view this man, from Fear Factor to be very handsome and good looking, feeling this way would make them happy, thus the use of pathos.  The emotion on the man's face however could bring about several different emotions.  The man in the ad looks very intimidating and serious and this brings the reader or viewer and sense of fear, causing them to be tricked into thinking that chocolate milk is actually not as good as the ad leads you into thinking it is.  This use of emotion can bring about several different views from different people and that's how many companies make their money because most people view it as there is a hot guy lets buy this.

     Logos, the logical one of Aristotle's rhetorical appeals is rarely used in this advertisment for chocolate milk.  The main use of logos in this ad is the quote " my only fear is running out" this quote lets the reader know that the guy in the picture isn't just some regualr person, but the host of the show Fear Factor.  The way the viewer views this is that whenever they see that not only they as buyers drink this, but also celebrities do too, then they will buy it more to be just like the celebrity mentioned.  The hidden logic in this ad helps the reader to understand the meaning of the advertisement better persuading them to buy it.

     By using all three of Aristotle's rhetorical appeals, the writer of the ad is able to reach out to more than just milk drinkers, but to anyone who loves the show Fear Factor and it's host.  All these persuasive methods: emotion, logic, and credibility, are used to create a well made, and truthful ad that buyers can look at and know that they are actually buying the right product, rather than getting severaly tricked into buying something they themselves do not need.