Use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos - Essay Example

no. 5 friends advert: the use of ethos, logos, and pathos The power of an advertisement primarily rests on how well the advert is received by the target audience. Considering the volume of adverts present in the media today, advert producers are faced with the daunting task of ensuring that their advert captures the audience’s attention. As Fowles points out, advertisements need to have the right emotional appeal in order to have an impact on the audience (75). As such, there are various ways through which advertisers appeal to the intended audience. The 5 friends advert on YouTube is a message being sent out to voters in the United States on the importance of voting, which uses various kinds of appeals to convince the audience. This article analyses how the producers of this advert use the ethos, logos, and pathos appeals in marketing their product. In addition, the article analyses the use of appeals such as the need for guidance, the need aesthetic sensations, and the need to feel safe in appealing to the emotions of the voters on the need to vote for their political leaders. The use of ethos Advertisers use ethos, which is the appeal to authority to convince the audience to use their product or service. Essentially, what appeal to authority does is that it relies on the credibility of the person presenting the message in the advert. Therefore, when advertisers make use of ethos in an advert, they are sure to incorporate influential personalities who are bound to convince the audience. The 5 friends advert is a star-studded affair which includes almost all American celebrities urging people to vote (5 Friends, 2014). According to Fowles, approximately 15% of every advertisement makes use of celebrities, particularly from the fields of entertainment or sports (87). The 5 friends advert features A-list celebrities such as Leonardo Di Caprio, Jamie Fox, Sarah Silverman, and Jonah Hill, among many others (5 Friends, 2014). Considering that the primary target for audience for his advert is the young generation, the presence of all these celebrities is a guarantee that many youths are bound to watch it. According to Fowles, producers are usually use celebrities in commercials in order to appeal to the need for aesthetic sensations which keep the audience interested in the advert (85). Accordingly, although the celebrities in the 5 friends advert are not experts in terms of politics, they influence most decisions made by young people. Since most young people look to these celebrities as heroes and role models, a product being advertised by them would most definitely sell. The use of pathos The use of pathos in advertisements is meant to sway the emotions of the audience. Fundamentally, advertisers use stylistic devices in the delivery of the message such as tonal variations, sarcasm, and similes among others to convince the audience. In line with this, the 5 friends advert appeals to the need for guidance by educating the voter on the need to vote. The primary message in the advertisement concerns the benefits of voting. Ironically, the advert stars by the celebrities sarcastically telling people not to vote because issues such as the economy do not matter, especially to a young person. For instance, Jonah Hill acts as the typical young, American male who does not care about anything including the economy because he has so much money (5 Friends, 2014). The need to feel safe is directly related to the appeal to pathos, as stated by Fowles who writes that no sane person wants to feel threatened or exposed to any kind of danger (85). Fundamentally, every person does whatever they can in order to try and ensure personal safety and that of others. Accordingly, while making adverts, producers capitalize on the need to convince the audience that whatever product or service being advertised can in some way assure the audience of their safety. While watching the 5 friends advert, the viewer is convinced that if they register to vote and ten do the actual voting, then they will have played a vital role in ensuring that they live in a safe country. The message in the advert is about living in a better America where the healthcare system is good, there are no terrorism threats, where global solutions to global warming will be formulated, and access to quality education is guaranteed (5 Friends, 2014). The use of logos In as much as adverts are meant to be entertaining, advertisers also recognize the need to use logical persuasions in order to properly market the product or service. The audiences need to be convinced that if they use the product or service being advertised, they will benefit from it. In this case, the 5 friends advert appeals to the logic of the audience by making them realize the need to vote. For instance, although the advert starts with the celebrities sarcastically giving reasons for not voting, along the way, the celebrities take up more a serious tone and urge people to vote so as to determine the key issues that affect them (5 friends, 2014). For instance such issues as how the viewer’s vote could influence crucial issue such as global warming, the economy, the Iraq War, terrorism, healthcare, and civil rights are addressed in the advert. The advert does not only educate people on the need to vote, but also has a link that directs people on a website which allows people to register as voters online. The celebrities even give the viewer time to go to the website and register to vote, and then send the same link to at least five friends in order to spread the message. The use of logos goes together with the need for guidance as proposed by Fowles who writes that even older people often need to be guided on sensitive issues (80). Evidently, the 5 friends advert serves as the perfect guide on how a young American can be involved in determining the kind of future that the country will have by simply registering, passing the message, and actually turning up to vote on the voting day (5 Friends, 2014). Although the advert does not mention any candidates to vote for during the elections so as to have all these essentials, the viewer is made aware that their vote could determine the future of America. Such a strong message that makes people realize that they hold the key to their wellbeing is enough to ensure that the advert will sell and people will actually make use of the product being advertised. In essence, considering that the target audience is primarily the young generation who spend most of their time online, the availability of the advert on YouTube makes it more accessible to millions of youth. It, therefore, means that more people are bound to register to vote as it is not a tedious process, yet it might guarantee their personal safety and that of the whole country at large. Conclusion In order for any product to sell, very high emphasis has to be placed on how the said product or service is marketed. The surest way of marketing involves proper advertisements which in most cases are designed to appeal to the senses of the target audience. In the case of the 5 friends advert, the producers maximized on the use pathos to manipulate the emotions of young people and convince them to vote and determine their country’s future. The produces used aesthetic sensations generated from watching celebrities in order to achieve this target. In addition, the advert appeals to the logos of the viewer and the viewers need for guidance by educating latter on the importance of voting. The appeal to ethos is also used in the advert, although not to an adequate level. One would expect that the producers would look for people with political knowledge in order to be more convincing. None the less, the celebrities succeed in convincing the audience that their need to feel safe can be achieved if they turn out to vote. Works cited 5 Friends. Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 26 May, 2014. Fowles, Jib. Advertisings Fifteen Basic Appeals. In Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print. Read More