How The Ethos In Metlife's My Father Is A Liar

What motivates you? This question is one of many that advertisers ask themselves when they create a commercial or an ad. The answer to that question can sometimes prove to be difficult to find due to the various ways we as humans react to different situations. For this very reason advertisers are forced to create a plethora of numerous different commercials to fit our individual needs as customers. In MetLife’s My Father is a Liar commercial the advertiser used the power of pathos to pull on the potential customer’s hearts, while in another MetLife commercial called The Right Choice they used ethos to make their point by showing the audience all the big companies that chose MetLife as their insurance plan. Both of the commercials are promoting

Although, the different scenes of the father attempting to find a job, and even working some of the hardest jobs such as: janitor, street advertiser, and factory worker were heart tugging by themselves, it was in fact the little girls words that brought me to tears. “He lies about having a job.” “He lies that he is not hungry.” Each time the little girl declares another one of her father’s lies an image presents either the two of them, or just the father as he lives out his lies, doing his best to provide for his daughter. At the very end of the daughters letter she says, “He lies because of me.” Again, this scene was one that made my heart melt. The commercial had become more than just a promotion for MetLife, it in fact had become a story that I realized was a reality that was becoming even truer in our world today. Not only did it appeal to the viewer’s emotions, but it also posed an ideal that prompted the audience to look at others and themselves a little differently. At the very end of the commercial as the father finished reading his daughter’s note there was a touching moment where the two embraced displaying a scene where one could not help but be brought to tears. As the screen finally faded to black the audience was left with this ending contemplation, “A child’s future is worth every sacrifice. Pursue more from life. MetLife.” The advertisers had done their job masterfully by planting the story of the father and his daughter in the audience’s minds. Throughout the commercial you get the sense that the advertiser is targeting the middle aged single parents due to the theme of the advertisement, and the type of emotional appeal that they utilized. However, I do not believe that this commercial only has an effect on this particular group directly. The advertisement had shown how important our children are, and that they are worth