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Sweet Smart

As I was walking through Walmart, I came across a form of this advertisement. I stopped in my tracks. This was a direct representation of a logical fallacy. And it was working. The slots for the products were missing quite a few of its members. As I reflected on the power of words to ensnare the mind, I looked around at other advertisements and realized the predominance of illogical fallacies on children. This astounded me.

This advertiser wanted me to buy their mouthwash because it will make me smart. I will be smart if I use this mouthwash to fight cavities this Halloween.

This didn’t make sense to me. Nothing in that Listerine mouthwash will increase my IQ or help me pass my Omnibus test. The advertiser meant to convey that the use of mouthwash is smart, but he twisted it to fit the crazy and illogical minds of little kids that like cool pictures and animated creatures on their toothpaste tubes and t-shirts. In one respect, it makes sense to the child with one meaning, but to the eye is irrelevant.

Kudos goes out to the innovative advertiser that created this eye-catching and alluring ad. The purpose of advertising is to get the consumer to buy the product by any means possible. Does this include using logical fallacies? Of course! Is this the norm in today’s advertising industry? Definitely. Should it involve these deceptions? That is up to you. Whether you see this ad and immediately want the mouthwash or you stand astounded by this idea, be sweet (candy) smart this Halloween and brush those white horses of yours.

P.S.- I hope you got my The Hobbit joke. If you do comment, please.

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Comments

  1. Abigail OverbeyMay 4, 2015 at 6:50 AM

    You're right- the creator of the ad did a good job on trying to catch the eye of children. I think the creator definitely drew it with the intent of appealing to children.

    Kaitlyn

    ReplyDelete

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