The Government Employees Insurance Company, commonly called GEICO, and Esurance Insurance Services are two auto insurance companies in the United States. In their commercial, GEICO features a piglet, by the name of Maxwell, attempting to obtain a driver’s license. He then shows a clerk his insurance information on his cell phone and gets his picture taken. The ad closes with a narrator stating how much money could be saved from switching to GEICO from other auto insurance providers. On the other hand, the Esurance commercial features an elderly lady showing her friends pictures on her wall. When one of her friends realizes her mistakes she corrects her, much to the disagreement of the old lady. The elderly lady the begins to tell her friends …show more content…
In the GEICO commercial, for example, a pig is shown trying to obtain a driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles. A piglet, by the name of Maxwell, is shown attempting to obtain a driver's license from an unamused clerk. After showing her his insurance information on his phone, the clerk then proceeds to take a picture of Maxwell, much to his surprise. After reviewing the picture, he asks the clerk to retake his picture and she, in a stereotypical lunch lady voice, shouts “next!” This is an example of pathos because GEICO is using a cute animal and snarky old lady to sell their product by arousing laughter upon the viewer. However, in the Esurance commercial, pathos is shown by the portrayal of two elderly ladies arguing with one attempting to prove a mistake. In their advertisement, Beatrice, the homeowner, is showing her friends pictures on her wall instead of posting them online. This is an example of pathos because Esurance is attempting to capture the viewer's attention by humoring them with Beatrice’s incorrect usage of Facebook terminology. In addition to pathos, GEICO and Esurance both use ethos in an attempt to connect with their respective target