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Airheads: Now Bite-Sized


I saw and heard rhetoric used in a Youtube commercial. It was advertising a candy. The advertisement wanted the viewer to buy and eat Airheads Bites.

Their argument wasn't so much an argument as it was a jingle. It goes: “Airheads! Now bite size! You can pop like this, or you can pop like that, you can play like this, or you can play like that, you can share like this, or you can share like that. We eat Airheads Bites, ‘cause bites are where it’s at! Airheads Bites! Play delicious.”

The commercial is aimed at teens, with other teenagers acting as the main supporters of the candy. Most would agree that a friendly face seems more trustworthy, and since they are teenagers, they appeal more to the age group ranging from 13 to 19. They seemed to emotionally appeal to people’s hunger and attraction. They appealed to hunger by showing people eating this brightly colored candy, the bright colors catching the viewer’s eyes. It appeals to attraction because the people in the commercial would be considered pretty or handsome. There was little logical reason to get Airheads Bites, if not none. The only thing that the commercial could have been attempting to use logic for might have been something along the lines of, ‘If you buy this product, you will be as happy as the people shown here’, though that could just as easily be an appeal to emotion.

Their rhetorical technique seemed effective, though I did not but or eat their product. It did seem persuasive. The jingle was catchy, albeit mildly annoying once heard numerous times. Of course, this was likely part of the reasoning behind the jingle. If it was viewed at least three times, it was very likely that it would be remembered, and become stuck in one’s head. This way, if the person who had heard the jingle went out and was hungry, or saw the candy, they would have been more likely to buy it.

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Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 8, 2017 at 6:39 PM

    I think the post could have been a little better if you had pointed out any ethos, pathos, or logos but other than that it seemed very well written.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Abigail OverbeyJanuary 25, 2018 at 11:31 AM

    Isabel, you did a great job on this post. I agree with you, a jingle doesn't present much argument at all. However, I did see your point on the pathos of the argument. When teenagers like us see other teenagers presenting something that seems good, our minds can sometimes get tricked into thinking that the bad is good.

    Talia

    ReplyDelete

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