Justification for the Selection of the Artifact - Essay Example

Collage: Rhetorical Artifact Analysis: Advertisement Introduction All around us people are convincing and persuading us into doing something in a certain way. Everyone has their own tactics of selling something whether it a commodity or just an idea. Either way, both types of marketing audiences need to be addressed accordingly. This achieved through the use of rhetoric strategies or artifacts in advertising. A rhetorical situation is the way in which peoples perspectives are transformed by convincing them of something else. Most company thus use rhetoric artifacts when advertising their products. An example of such an advertisement is Always commercial, like a girl (Always). This advertisement is directed by Lauren Greenfield, a documentary photographer, filmmaker, and artist and it aims to stop the use of like a girl phrase as an insult to women. Its purpose is to empower girls at their young age to avoid self esteem deterioration and build self confidence in their puberty stage. The target audience, men, teenage girls, young boys and girls are important as it shows that the advertisement is geared towards self conscious girls who care about what girls are like. The commercial focuses on the difference of understanding of the phrase like a girl to men, teen girls, young boys and girls. The young girls under ten do not see this phrase as an insult since they have not been exposed to stereotypes and sexism that surrounds women. One little girl even says “I do not know if it is good or bad but it sounds like a bad thing, like you are trying to humiliate someone.” Justification for the Selection of the Artifact The advertisement is an artefact, a cultural product in itself. This advertisement concentrates on one of the things that almost everyone has undergone; You throw like a girl or you run like girl! These words were thrown at us by classmates or even parents to their children. In this advertisement strong emotional appeals are used to empower girls to show them by showing that this phrase is not negative but instead show them how it is amazing to be a girl; strong tough and passionate. Since Always produces menstrual products for girls and young women their primary message is directed to this group of audience. By showing young women in their ad, and younger girls they have made the advertisement relatable to the audience. It is easy to imagine oneself , friend, daughter, or sister in the same position as the girls in the advertisement video. This advertisement is aimed at marketing towards the parents of the young girls since they are interested in their daughters’ happiness, seeing then self confident and respected in the society. The process of any kind of artifact is to identify the manifold although in a limited number of probabilities and options that are available in the context and then determine the possibility of having the desired audience response (Kaufer and Brian). This is exactly what Always is doing in this advertisement. It uses logos, ethos, and pathos through out the commercial extensively. Additionally the tone of the message as well as the kairos of the situation is a major contribution to the relevance of the message. To a rhetorician any kind of persuasive endeavour like the one employed in the advertisement is like chess. It is considered to have a limited number of pieces of which each has unique capabilities. When investigating a new domain, advertisement, a rhetor identifies and differentiates the capabilities of all the possibilities that may exist (Kaufer and Brian). This pragmatic character of a rhetoric is the foundation for studying this artifact in advertising. The application of rhetorical ideas in advertising can not be evaded as it contributes to bringing out new aspects of the phenomenon under advertisement. This advertisement for example is all about being confident during menstrual cycles for women but this confidence has been taken out from the history of women being inferior in the cultural set up (Klein and Daniel). This is a kind of different perspective that the advertisement brings to the surface for the audience. It teaches that such comments could be hurtful to any girl. The audience is however not limited to the buyers of the product; it is a popular ad on social media and its message has reached a wide range of audience than if it was merely shown on television. Always took advantage of their ad’s visibility to include young adults of both genders, and make their message relatable to a broad audience. Beyond, the brand name, the product being marketed is not mentioned. This is a feature of a rhetoric artifact that aims to estimate the possibility of responses from the audience. The message is left out for the audience to interpret. In this case, Always is confident that girls will understand what they are selling, and if boys don’t figure it out, then they would rather not know. Either way the message is passed across. Overall, this advertisement serves as a great example of an effective rhetorical artifact worth of analysis. Analysis of the Artifact The human is termed a story telling animal. My analysis is based on the narrative paradigm which is composed from human experience. Using human experience in an artifact gives a better understanding of the world and guides people in making decisions. The artifacts of narratives are in various forms including films, songs and advertising (Fisher). The content in these artifacts include spoken, visual, and written and are rhetorical components that should be analyzed. All forms of communication can be termed as narrative since they express human experience. A narrative is based on pre known ideas. Culturally it is believed that women are inferior and that what the phrase like a girl aims to eliminate. It is a preconceived idea in the minds of the society that builds it (Klein and Daniel). With the recent speech by Emma Watson on feminism at the UN, and the increasing frequency of celebrities to identify as feminists, as well as women rights on reproduction cases, this advertisement was a well timed story to empower the young girls. This means that the kairos is present perfectly for something to be done. In this young age, the bodies and minds of young girls are policed by the media and it is only fair that someone takes a stand to put out an empowering message about what women and girls can do. This move was calculated for Always, since this timing would produce a lot of hype in the media, their brand would be more visible and above their competitors Just a like a narrative, one of the most ideologies present in this advertisement is in relation to social construct that boys are better than girls. In many aspects of life, women are assumed to be inferior, for example, work performance, intelligence and athletic ability. Always aims to challenge these structures of power distribution by showing a different and more realistic picture where a girl is equally capable and strong like their male counterparts. At the end of the ad, elder girls are shown playing their sports. By so doing always is illustrating that girls have untapped potential that would be undiscovered because of the socially constructed weakness that is directed to girls (Klein and Daniel). This advertisement has a very heavy play on pathos. The director directs the older actors to run like a girl and in return the actors daintily and shrieking flails their hands and legs as slow music plays. When the same instructions are given to the girls, they run very fast as their understanding of being a girl is powerful, athletic and strong. The pathos is pulled when the ad asks “when does like a girl become an insult?” (Always). This appeal is made directly to the audience by playing on their emotions, and laying it out clearly that using female to mean weak has hurtful impacts on the victims. In the advert, it is stated that the self confidence of a girl plummets when she reaches puberty. The ad is quick to correlate loss of self esteem with the negative comments that girls receive, and the belief that there is a connection between being female and inferiority as a person and athlete (Klein and Daniel). On watching this ad, girls will remember a moment in life when these words were said to them. Additionally, when parents watch it, they do not want their daughters to undergo the pain of being regarded as socially inferior simply because of their feminine nature. When everyone watches the ad, they recognize that they made an error in saying those words and put themselves in the shoes of those who are negatively impacted by these words. Always, in this ad, shows how such comments really affect girls. The older girls, on realization of what their actions imply, they become emotional as they remember how it felt like to be told “like a girl.” In this emotional moment, they encourage other girls to ignore what is said and just focus on doing their best. This is concluded that when people see the need to bring you down, it all means you are doing something right. Always applies on ethos by applying their knowledge on girl issues. As a company that deals with menstrual products, being knowledgeable about their target consumers is essential. They illustrate in the ad that they are not only trying to market their product but they also care about the physical and emotional well being of their audience. In the ad, all the actors act just as they are asked to do, like a girl, which is reinforcement to the credibility of Always. However, it is a surprise when the young girls at the end use all their energy and enthusiasm in sports, and later when the older ones do the same. This boosts the company’s credibility because it illustrates the kind of impact that a positive female message would have on the self confidence of a girl. The advertisement also uses logos to put across its point. It indicates that many people are not aware of the impact that these words could have on young girls who thought that they should be proud to be girls, and they learn that its quite the opposite; something to deny and be ashamed of being. In a moment from the ad, a young boy is proud to say that his sister throws like a boy and he threatens to deal with anyone who would say that the sister throws like a girl. When asked to explain his reasons for seeing a girl as a bad thing, he thinks it through and can not explain, he is just confused by the thoughts. This is a clear indication that many people do not understand the effect of their comments to a girl’s self esteem, but once they are made to comprehend it, their behaviour can change. Always makes it clear that the phrase “like a girl” should be outdated instead of being used in a negative context. Teachers and parents should not ignore it because it is not acceptable to refer to another marginalized group in a similar way. It is therefore logical for the company to create such an ad as a way of educating people on this issue. Assessment of the Artifact The advertisement is relevant and effective in reaching its audience. The timing is relevant, and the message Always has is important and relatable to the audience. They have reached a broad audience through the television, social media and You Tube, which a surety that their message will reach a wide population sample. The ad makes it effective by playing heavily on the emotions of girls and parents whose main interest is to see girls being strong and confident to be girls. The credibility of the company is boosted by their authority in talking about teenage girls; after all they specialize in selling women products. Showing that they care about the girls, who are their customers, also shows the credibility that Always has as a company. It is logical for the ad to make the viewer realize how discriminative it is to use the phrase like a girl in a negative situation. Choosing such a universal and relatable statement at such a relevant time is the greatest reason why this artifact is a success. The point is well put. I feel that this artifact is as ethical as it can get. It does not harm or aim to harm any one. Its purpose is simply empowering girls. They do not use force, instead they use a popular phrase that almost everyone can relate to show the negative impacts it has on girls’ self esteem. They are sending the message that the society is to blame, even though it is done subconsciously, for the plummeting of girls’ self esteem in their puberty age. In addition, the ad specializes in educating people on this issue so as to boost the confidence of girls, just like their products do to girls during the period they use them. Personally I think this is a brilliant idea in advertising, relating an ideology to the product is just perfect. Even those who do use the product find the ad helpful. And the use of super bowl, a popular sport event, for this ad shows creativity, and creativity is what makes audience have a positive attitude towards the message. Works Cited Fisher, Walter. “The narrative paradigm: An elaboration.” Communications Monographs 52.4 (1985): 350-367. Web. Kaufer, David S and S Butler Brian. Rhetoric and the Arts of Design. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. Klein, Hans K and Lee K Daniel. “The social construction of technology: Structural considerations.” Science, Technology & Human Values 27.1 (2002): 28-50. Web. Like a girl. Always. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Ep0O5fWN4. Read More