I was once on my way to a hockey game and my friend and I drove past a billboard that made us somewhat confused. The billboard said, “Embarrassment can’t kill you. Colon cancer can. Get a colonoscopy.” Featured on the billboard was an office woman whose dress was tucked into her undergarments. The company that created this advertisement was trying to imply that if anyone in the audience that that situation happen to them, they would be embarrassed. The problem with this ad is that embarrassment has nothing to do with colon cancer. These two instances have nothing to do with each other. It is true that embarrassment cannot kill you, but that does not necessarily mean that a person will get colon cancer and die, whether or not it is in the best interest of the audience to get a colonoscopy to prevent colon cancer. The photo on the advertisement grabs the attention of the audience, but the photo is completely irrelevant to a person’s connection to colon cancer. I believe that the billboard is certainly effective in its ability to grab the attention of the audience and make them think of the argument that the company is trying to get across. People driving down the road most likely will not take the time to realize that embarrassment has nothing to do with colon cancer. Despite this, it will make the audience wonder about colon cancer, and may even persuade them to get a colonoscopy. This advertisement presents its argument in a way that is memorable to the audience, despite the fact that the argument is not logically correct.
In Mr. Cline's class a few weeks ago. We took the day off in a way from our normal classes. Instead of continuing to read the books we were assigned and discussing them, he read us the sermon by C.S Lewis "The Weight of Glory." Its a long sermon, but one worth reading. It is about the confusion many people have on the topic of what we desire the most. He explains after much background information, that we all desire true happiness. And through that happiness, we long for heaven, our true home that we were designed for. He explains that glory is not what many people think of as being "famous" in heaven. But more that we are honored by our Lord and Father. For it to be like the scripture passage "Well done, good and faithful servant." C.S Lewis does a fantastic job at being persuasive here, and if read by the right person aloud, can have an excellent effect. He clears up lots of points that people bring up that are not true. Such as the point of glory...
I agree with you Hannah! It is a convincing commercial even though it's not logical enough!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the fact that this is an illogical advertisement. Embarrassment and colon cancer are two very different things, colon cancer may be embarrassing but you cannot compare the two that the way that ad did.
ReplyDeletegood job with the description of the billboard. also, i can see why it made you confused. it sounds like a poorly made add.
ReplyDeleteGood job job finding this ad and figuring out whether or not their argument was valid or not.
ReplyDeletegood job finding the ad dont have a valid argument their argument dont used any logic
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job of showing how poor the logic is behind this argument. Most people would think that this would be embarrassing, but it's just the company trying to get their attention
ReplyDeleteGreat job Hannah! You had me confused just reading your description of the billboard(not because you were confusing, but because that billboard was definitely irrelevant). When you are driving, you want to be able to read a billboard that is clear and to the point, not one that you have to take a double take on. You had an excellent way of looking at this ad too. Good observation!
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