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Joe Ciresi

Joe Ciresi, who is running for the position of state representative here in Pennsylvania, has received some negative publicity as of late. His tax policies in particular are being targeted by the opposition, particularly in one mail advertisement. It begins immediately with the statement, “His record proves it: Joe Ciresi will cost us too much.” It goes on to elaborate on the policies and tax laws he has supported in the past. For example, he has both voted in favor of a law that would result in a 30% increase on property taxes, and even supported politicians who were proposing a one billion dollar tax increase. In addition, he is currently teaming with other politicians to raise taxes once more, but send the money to schools in Philadelphia and not our own.

Now, this may just seem like a lot of political bashing, but throughout the ad, one can spot multiple citations directly to the Pottstown Mercury, Ciresi’s campaign page on Facebook, and other sources. This helps to establish a level of ethos, or trust, giving us reason to believe the advertiser and consider their argument, rather than simply blow them off. In addition, pathos, or the appeal to emotion, is very evident. They try very hard to make you fear the policies Ciresi represents. Apart from to statements such as, “We can’t send him to Harrisburg to take more of our money,” one will also find pictures to further reinforce the emotion the advertiser is trying to promote, such as a rather distressed woman holding her head as she stares at what are presumably tax documents, as well as another woman with a shocked and fearful expression.

I find this advertisement, despite its general negativity, to be a very strong example of persuasive, political advertising. Using both ethos and pathos, one feels more apt to believe what the advertiser is saying, and therefore allow it to have the desired effect on your emotions.
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  1. AnonymousDecember 13, 2016 at 1:11 PM

    Knowing personally some of Joe's beliefs and policies I was against him becoming our representative. Still the bashing in the ad was uncalled for, while being competitive. If a republican was watching this ad they would allow their emotions to be manipulated by the rhetoric. Great analysis!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 13, 2016 at 7:50 PM

    This post is quite interesting to me because I actually helped campaign for Ciresi. The ads against Ciresi were quite effective in using rhetorical methods and might have been the reason he lost by a narrow margin.

    ReplyDelete

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