Rhetorical Analysis: Advertisement - Essay Example

This means the ads have to be refined and suitable to the target audience in mind. Moreover it has to be understood that cars being high involvement products, the ads would majorly concentrate on the Ethos and Logos which concentrate on the character and credibility of the brand since these would appeal to the educated audience most. Coming to the particular advertisement at hand, we must first realize that the medium of expression is of great importance; in this case advertising in The Newsweek magazine (May 2, 2011; 39) suggests to us the readers of the magazine are potential customers.

As The Newsweek is a news magazine informing us on the current affairs in the world of politics and business, it is most likely that the reader is a practical individual who would be influenced by Ethos and Logos rather than Pathos. Thus most rightly, Audi has taken this route by putting a lot of information in the ad that would arouse the Ethos and Logos within the individual. Taking a closer look at the advertisement and dissecting it into its various smaller entities, one could very well start with the background and style.

The background and the style used is plain and not at all flashy, the reason being that focus is not on striking an emotional cord or attracting attention based on it, instead it focuses on conveying the credibility of the product and the brand, for this radiant colors are not required. Moreover the audience comprises of mature individuals interested in the content rather than in the presentation. However there is one important feature in the presentation that stands out and that is the bold characters in the first couple of lines.

The bold representation highlights Audi’s philosophy and what the brand stands for. Interestingly it is a play of Ethos and Pathos because on the one hand it talks about the ideals and philosophy nurtured within the company a clear indication of Ethos and on the other hand it arouses certain emotions that make you long for the brand, striking a chord of importance, exclusivity and uniqueness, an indication of Pathos. Moving on through the passage that is genuinely Ethos driven, we are constantly reminded of the character of the brand which projects itself as one that pushes the boundaries of technology to come out with innovations never seen before.

We are given great examples to support these events with every aspect of the car being mentioned starting from the design of the body through the revolutionary technology of the engine to the implementation of four wheel drive. After having made the required impact in terms of convincing the audience of the credibility of the brand, the next few lines cleverly introduce facts such as “largest – selling luxury car brand in Europe and China, and the fastest growing in India”. This is intentional as it stimulates the logic and reasoning of the audience by using such convincing terms such as ‘largest and fastest’ in its argument.

This is an example of Logos which reiterates the previous points made, thus giving a healthy blend of Ethos and Logos. As we come to the penultimate paragraph, we are once again reminded of the values the brand inherits and what in essence Audi stands for. The last paragraph one could say is like the summary of the entire thing, with the audience once again reminded of the soul within the brand. Interestingly the phrase is in German signifying the