I’m selecting the first YouTube clip. This clip is an advertisement for a new Volkswagen model. The intended audience of this commercial is a younger audience. I say this because the car that gets smashed is a tricked out car of a young male character. Volkswagen is saying to all the young car owners in the world, that their new Volkswagen is better than whatever they are currently driving. Young people are always looking for the next trend or the next popular product, and by smashing what appears to be a cool car; Volkswagen is demonstrating that their car is more hip, trendy, and contemporary than other presumed "cool cars". In addition the two Germans in the commercial are wearing contemporary clothing, with electronic/techno music playing in the background, and the German male in the advertisement references things that a young person could relate to. He says “drop it like its hot”, which is a popular line from the song “drop it like its hot” by a famous male rapper named Snoop Dog. Hip-hop and rap are generally associated with the younger generation, so this has a strong connection to people in their teens and in their twenties. Also, at the end of the commercial the German man makes a VW sign with his hands. Its hard to catch at first, so initially it looks like some kind of cool hand sign that is also associated with hip-hop, and the younger generation.
The strongest type of appeal in this commercial is Pathos. Pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience. Because the Volkswagen is portrayed as this hip, contemporary car, it makes the audience think that if they own that car, they too will appear hip and contemporary. There is good looking woman who crushes the young mans car because she prefers the Volkswagen. This appeals to young males, making them think that they will come off as more attractive to women if they drive that Volkswagen. Because the intended audience is a younger one, it is easier to connect with them through their sense of emotion. Generally younger people are more easily persuaded by what they see, and don’t think things through as well as older people, so a commercial like this, which challenges “coolness”, is extremely effective.
There is also a little bit of ethos. Ethos has to do with credibility; in this case the credibility of what a company is promoting. The two Germans make the Volkswagen seem like it has some sort of “street” credibility. Again this refers back to how the company is making their product seem cool and trendy. In addition, the man says that the car is representing Deutschland (Germany), and a narrator comes is saying that the car is pre-tuned by German engineers. This gives the car even more credibility because Germany is known for making excellent cars, and has a history of high performance engineering, when it comes to vehicles of transportation. There isn't any Logos in this advertisement. Logos has to do with logic, facts, and reasoning, and none of this can be found in this advertisement
2 comments:
I think your analyzation on this commercial is extremely significant; in that, you mention that buyers tend to invest in materialistic items that are "in style" or considered "cool." It is definetly true that advertisers try to make their product modern and convince their audiences that the newest model is the better than all the others in order for them to buy it. I also agree with your thought that the ethos appeal is used. I personally have heard that German automobiles are good quality, so the commercial using Germans gives the argument more credibility for sure.
I choose the same advertisement as you. We have analyzed the ad pretty much the same way. I think that it is very thorough and well done. I totally agree that the intanded audience has to be young and even more detailed, male. The only thing that I think could be added is that they can't be too young because they have to be driving age. I agree that volkswagen used pathos the most of the rhetorical appeals in the add because volkswagen is defiently trying to appeal through these young adults emotions. Lastly, I agree they used ethos but I think they were trying to gain credibility through the way they talked. They wanted to gain creditibility from the younger generation. I think this is a very good analysis.
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