Everyday Use And Abuse Of Persuasive Essay

Anywhere a person looks, he or she will always see some form of advertisement. Billboards, fliers, posters, bumper stickers, and other printed media are highly visible almost everywhere in the streets. The purpose of all these diverse types of promotional ads is to inform the people about a company’s merchandise or service. They also seek to communicate a message to society. Every printed advertisement carries a specific message that associates with its sponsorship. Due to the advertisements creativity, it influences the way the audience will think about the product or service. The seller’s main focus is to persuade the buyer into purchasing the product. Commercials are a common form of advertisement; they provide enough information to capture the audience’s attention to purchase the product. It is a quicker way to communicate between the vendor and purchaser.

It captured my attention because the Latin singer Shakira is featured in it as well as her song “Can’t Remember to Forget You”. In the commercial, it starts off with Shakira and extras in the background happily walking. It then mainly focuses up close to Shakira’s bright white smile. According to the book “Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion”, Shakira is being used as a decoy. In this case, the decoy is someone who is portrayed as being attractive, a celebrity, or someone intended to trap you into wanting to look like him or her. “The lesson to be learned from research on decoys is that the context makes a difference” (Pratkanis, Aronson). What they mean by this is that the setting Shakira is in also makes an impact on how the Crest 3D White Luxe Toothpaste is being advertised. Shakira is in a setting where she is living the splinded life and depicts herself as being