While I was watching TV, I watched a Coca-Cola commercial. I noticed that this commercial mainly used the appeal of pathos, which is the appeal to emotion, to persuade its viewers to buy a coke. This commercial tries to persuade people that they will be happy if they purchase a coke. In the commercial, two girls come into the store to buy more and more cokes to share with their friends for the summer. After they buy the cokes, the commercial shows clips of fun things they do together as they are drinking coke, such as spraying each other with hoses during a car wash, riding skateboards and bikes, and throwing a party. This appeals to the emotions happiness and envy. The commercial tries to convince its audience that through a coke, they can make new friends and have an amazing summer, which makes people feel happy.
The commercial also appeals to the emotions pity and sympathy. The boy cashier who checks out the cokes for the two girls becomes more and more sad because he knows that they are having a great time as they buy more cokes from the store. The viewers feel sympathetic towards the cashier because he deserves to have a good time as well. Eventually, the one girl comes back into the store with the cashier’s name on a coke bottle and leads him to the party. In between all of this, there are subtle hints that they like each other. This part of the commercial persuades its viewers that other people can become happy if they buy a coke for them. It also tries to convince its viewers that coke can create a romantic relationship. More people will want to buy coke bottles because their names are on them. This makes people feel important and special. This idea seems “cool” because no other drink company has done this before.
In this commercial, every time a coke is shared or drank, people laugh. The commercial tries to prove that laughter is a result of buying a coke. This is persuasive because it raises the question, “Who does not want a good laugh?” The music in the commercial is extremely upbeat. Upbeat music make people feel happy.
I believe this commercial was not logical. Just because someone buys a coke does not necessarily mean that all of a sudden everything in their life will be fun and be filled with happiness. Coke cannot create a romantic relationship, only people themselves can. However, I do believe that the technique of the commercial was effective. I love to have a good time and hang out with my friends. Sometimes food and drinks can bring people together to have a fun time.
I completely agree with the analysis of this commercial. It is an effective use of pathos but not logical. A commercial like this would be one that could almost manipulate the viewer and that should not be the case. This analysis is a very insightful one and was a great post on the blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really good view on this commercial. I totally agree with how much pathos they use to try and convince us of the effects of coke. Great job!
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