Cultural Rhetoric

Recently I have been drinking a lot of Naked Juice. Not only do I love these fruity drinks, I also enjoy reading the creative things that the company writes on the labels. They include how much of each fruit is in each drink on one side, and write little blurbs on another. One of my favorites is Orange Mango, and while I was drinking it the other day, I noticed that it said, “A tasty mango-y blend with vitamins A&C. It's liquid sunshine.” on the label. I believe that what the company seemed to want the consumers to think was that this juice tastes really good. So good, it can be compared to sunshine in liquid form. Somehow liquid sunshine is supposed to sound appealing. I don’t really understand how though- is it because it’s warm and bright? When I drink it, I admit it does taste fruity and summery, perhaps a little ‘sunny’… But the label doesn’t say it is like liquid sunshine, it says it is. In reality, liquid sunshine would instantly kill us, which is not so good! If you...

Today while I was flipping through the ‘Spring Preview’ issue of the magazine Bazaar, I came across an advertisement for Clinique’s Clinique Smart, which is supposedly a new ‘custom repair serum’. For those of you that don’t know, Clinique is a cosmetic company that sells over-priced makeup and skin care products. This new product is claimed to be capable of using its patented technology to custom repair skin as needed, where needed, for all ages and ethnicities. The advertisement also says, “Meet a serum smart enough to understand your skin’s past and change its future.” First of all, can we just talk about how ridiculous it is to personify a skin care product!? Not only do they talk about this product as if it has mystical powers, they also speak as if this product can mentally “understand your skin’s past” and physically “change its future”. I don’t know how effective this product is, as I have never used it, however, my guess is that it does not actually have these powers. To p...

While at the movie theaters to see The Maze Runner , I saw a commercial that featured rhetoric. The commercial begins with a young woman named Jess purchasing two Coca Cola drinks in a convenience store. One has her own name on it, and one has the name of her friend Alisha on it. The cashier watches her forlornly as she leaves, hinting that he has a crush on his customer. Jess gives the Coke with Alisha’s name on it to her friend, and together the two friends drink them. Later, Jess, Alisha and two other friends come back into the store to buy more Coke, then leave and have a good time together. Jess keeps coming back to the store with more and more friends, each time purchasing Coca Cola with their names printed on the labels. The cashier smiles and watches, but it is clear that he wishes he was with Jess.  Finally, as the cashier is closing the store for the night, Jess shows up at the door with a Coke that has the name Chris on it. She smiles and hands the drink to the ...