Literature and Modern Media 2 - Essay Example

It is a mid-size entry-level luxury car and - so far – it has become Lincoln’s bestselling model since its introduction. The ad sought to articulate these features and the benefits in a short and engaging communication content. The difficulty in communicating all the features and benefits of the Lincoln MKZ was addressed by using metaphors depicted in compelling imagery. There are many sources that support the efficacy of using metaphors to produce compelling and persuasive advertisement.

Among the most excellent of these is MacQuarrie and Phillips’ (2008) work, which documented numerous studies that demonstrate how metaphors induce a certain mental imagery that influences the behavior of people or, in the case of television advertisements, the viewers. They cited the case of a simulation where subjects were presented a poem with many metaphors and that based on the recorded participants’ interpretations, combined with sufficient exposure to visual images, were revealed to conjure mental imageries that support the construction and effectiveness of persuasive messages (39).

The dynamics of the studies that revolve around this theme falls within the wider argument of the use of pathos in advertising and marketing. MacQuarrie and Phillips drew an analogy from the ancient Greeks, who coined the concept in their perfection of the art of rhetoric. They cited that pathos, which is the technique of appealing to emotions, is crucial in cultivating, diverting, enhancing or creating – whatever the need was – in some type of manipulation in order to achieve a desired emotional response (39).

The idea – when applied in the context of marketing – is to increase the audience’s attitude towards the ad (39). Hoang (2005), describing a particularly adept marketer, had these words that expresses the impact of this particular method excellently: There was a feeling. As the feeling faded away into a labored, recalled memory, it left another feeling, the feeling of desire. That was effective advertising (44). So, if one considers the metaphors used in the Lincoln MKZ ad, one could not help but recognize the pathos and the desire to influence by eliciting emotional response with the help of words and visual images.

For instance, the video opens with the 2013 Lincoln MKZ’s comparison with the titular phoenix. Here, the introduction of the redesign and the new generation of Lincoln MKZ were achieved. There was the image of the old Lincoln model, which with the clever use of fire and graphical transformation, depicted the concept the phoenix in the process of being born, only that the bird did not really materialize. Rather, the 2013 MKZ emerged in its stead. To explain the utility of the metaphor, it is crucial to view it this way: emotion is difficult to verbalize.

Therefore, in order to communicate to the emotion of others, metaphors must be used in order to be effective. “When emotions,” wrote Malamed (2009), “seem ambiguous and ethereal, metaphors help make them explicit and tangible” (220). Stylistic and technical features were embedded in the comparison with the “hawk with night vision goggles”. The fun and car solidity were conveyed in the use of the beat of the drum set in a montage with the steady rhythm of machines, carving the hull of the