Rhetorical Analysis (Ad Critique) - Essay Example

Teacher Ad critique: Mountain Dew’s Kickstart The advertisement of Mountain Dew Kickstart is an effective advertisement because of its effective use of the rhetorical device of pathos. Pathos is a rhetorical device that attempts to make an appeal to the audience through the use of emotion to make the delivery of a certain message effective. The message could be anything that could range from political speech to advertisement such as the Mountain Dew’s Kickstart advertisement. In the ad, the effective use of pathos or emotional appeal, albeit it used the device of humour, was effective in transmitting to the audience what the ad was all about – that it is an energy drink.

The advertisement may look silly and nonsensical. It showed how everybody was moved to dance including the characters in the video game and painting but this silliness made the audience immediately understand what the ad is all about – that it is an energy drink. The audience may not understand what is in the drink or what the ingredients are, but they know that whatever is in the energy can surely make one move. Of course the audience know that the advertisement is exaggerated. But they do not necessarily believe whatever was shown in the ad that even the animals, painting and video character dance.

The ad may not be physically feasible but it appealed to the audience’s tickle bone that made the advertisement funny and memorable. In this advertisement, the pathos or emotional is taken to the extreme because other rhetorical device were discarded particularly the logos or logic. In an effort of the advertisement to make an impression to its audience through the use of pathos, it disregarded the consideration of logic. Such, the advertisement did not mind if it made any sense or not.

It just wanted to sell its product after all and not to make sense. Mountain Dew knows that it is not reason that makes people buy but rather their emotion. So the approach of the advertisement is to make a point that the audience understands that the product that the advertisement is trying to sell will make them energetic. It was able to achieve this by showing that everybody in the ad danced after the main characters drank the energy drink. Never mind if it is impossible or silly to see a painting dance or a mounted deer or even a dog to dance.

As long as the audience finds it cute and made them smile or laugh, then the ad had served its purpose of appealing to the emotion of the audience and most likely, they will buy the product when they see one.The Mountain Dew Kickstart advertisement showed that an advertisement does not have to make sense to make it effective as long as it can connect with the audience through the effective use of pathos or emotional appeal (humor in this case).Work Cited"Mtn Dew Kickstart: It All Starts with a Kick.

" YouTube. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. .