A Rhetorical Analysis Of Truth: Finish It

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Truth is an anti-smoking organization dedicated to eliminating teen smoking in the United States. They are best known for their empowering television commercials to encourage teens to reject tobacco and unite against the tobacco industry. They have utilized many different forms of media and developed their strategies to ensure they reach the teen audience most effectively (Parvanta, 2010). Furthermore, Truth: Finish It is one of their popular national advertisement campaigns; this commercial was created and aired by the Truth organization (#FinishIt, 2018). The commercial focuses on empowering young adults to become positive, tobacco-free individuals. Truth: Finish It is an effective advertisement that utilizes various techniques using ethos, …show more content…

By using this appeal, the campaign is using their own credibility to persuade their audience. The audience must think that the advertisers of the campaign are respectful, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. Therefore, Truth: Finish It effectively uses ethos by portraying that they are knowledgeable about the topic of the advertisement, which is to end teen smoking in the United States. "We have the numbers, we have the power, we have the creativity, we will be the generation that ends smoking” (BGSURecreation, 2015). This statement is most successful for appealing to the viewers aspirations and ambitions by showing the credibility of the campaign. The statement portrays a fact as well as strong opinions that proves to the audience that they are knowledgeable about the advertisement as well as willing to motivate the youth as much as possible to take a stand to end smoking for good. Additionally, the commercial also develops the appeal of ethos by choosing language that is appropriate for their audience and topic. The use of language is important, especially when trying to persuade a young audience; therefore, the campaign must relate to the youth, so they carefully choose the wording of their phrases to catch the teens' attention. Therefore, with this information in mind, the campaign is effective in persuading their audience by their interesting yet critical …show more content…

By using data and statistics in their commercial, it demonstrates the logical importance to the audience by stating the critical facts about the advertisement. "In 2000, 23% of teens smoked; today, only 8% of teens smoke" (BGSURecreation, 2015). This statement is what begins their advertisement. After stating this fact, they continue to show the importance of this fact by stating the 8% of teen smokers is significantly "less than the number of land lines still in use," or "less than the number of VHS tapes sold in 2013" (BGSURecreation, 2015). Likewise, by beginning the advertisement with this fact, it shows the significance of it towards the commercial. Furthermore, the commercial also creates a logical argument against the big tobacco business stating why it is harmful against the youth. “Big tobacco didn’t disappear, and now they are adapting to their tactics; now they are using you in ways you don’t even know” (BGSURecreation, 2015). After this statement, the advertisement shows examples of what they have in mind by the fact they identified. They portrayed images of young adults online who were smoking, and they showed how many “likes” they had compared to teens who did not smoke. This example was to prove to the audience that the big tobacco company has been trying to enforce smoking by making young adults seem like “cool kids” for doing so. This campaign helped reveal the tactics

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