Got Milk Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Got Milk: A Rhetorical Analysis for an Advertisement using Taylor Swift

"Got milk?" advertising campaign was introduced in 1993 for the purpose of getting more people to drink more milk across the America. In this campaign, celebrities who influence a diversity of people were chosen to endorse milk. The tagline "Got milk?" was created by Jeff Goodby from Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners agency for the California Milk Processor Board. Advertisements with the "Got milk?" tagline appear in a variety of mediums over 20 years from 1993 to 2014. From this campaign, I chose to analyze one of the advertisements endorsed by Taylor Swift in 2011. This ad uses ethos, logos, details and basic appeals in order to encourage teenage girls to drink more milk.

The main rhetorical device used here is ethos. Ethos is the use of personal branding or a credible authority to gain the audience's trust and push an agenda. The agenda of "Got milk?" is to get more people to drink milk, especially teenage girls. Taylor Swift is an inspiration to teenage girls as she is a successful musician with a body that they want to achieve. "So I choose milk" stated by Taylor Swift makes it seem as if she is directly speaking to the audience. Thus, the ad provides a credible authority, encouraging the audience to believe in the benefits of drinking

The statement uses the phrase "studies suggest" with no supporting evidence. This means that their studies might not have conclusive or definitive results. However, the ad still appeals to the audience's reasoning by affirming the fact that "the protein [in milk] helps build muscle." The ad further makes an assumption that drinking milk is essential to a healthy lifestyle by directing the audience to "eat right, exercise and drink 3 glasses of low-fat or fat-free milk a day." Even though the logos used in this advertisement is inadequate, the campaign still forms a strong impression by manipulating the logical assumptions that teenage girls will make while viewing the