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Stereotypes: Rhetorical Impact Of Political Advertising

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Rhetorical Impact of Political Advertisments For several generations, political advertisements have used any means necessary to obtain a grasp on their audience’s attention, as well as their favor. The use of rhetoric coupled with metaphors translates messages to the audience that becomes more relatable, and perhaps persuades some to believe their argument to be more believable. Political advertisements that successfully expand their voter base follow certain techniques to appeal to an audience, such as the advertisement "Big Bird". This ad supported by Barrack Obama is intended to devalue the reputation of Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election through the usage of metaphorical satire. Jib Fowles in his essay, "Advertising's Fifteen …show more content…

Advertisings persuading power is surely tested by its ability to connect and translate its message to the audience. During the advertisement “Big Bird”, the narrator uses a condescending tone coupled with metaphorical satire to give relief to the viewers who think negatively of Mitt Romney; these people are the advertisements targets. The political advertisement successfully establishes a common ground for the dislike of Mitt Romney and provides "the best chance of arresting attention and affecting communication", Fowles mentions this as a possible strategy of obtaining the audiences favor. Persuasion through imagery is more impactful than the use of text; Jim Fowel describes the usage of visuals over text to fully capture the audience’s attention: “Some few ads have their emotional appeal in the text but for the greater number by far the …show more content…

These fallacies discovered in advertisements deemed the political ad as “fake” or “unreliable”. An example of a logical fallacy included in the advertisement "Big Bird" would be the narrator claiming Mitt Romney and his political supporters are "Criminals. Gluttons of greed". By calling them something demeaning it’s an attempt to prove the presidential candidate isn't suited for office, thus belittling his ethos. In this case, this fallacy backfired and ruined the credibility of the advertisement for myself. It is easily distinguishable when an argument has neither basis nor evidence available to support its claims. An opinion such as “Gluttons of greed" is a claim that questions the credibility of those it’s applied to. When the advertisement uses such a phrase, it makes the author seem less legible to those who don't agree with the message portrayed. To some, the fallacies presented are indeed fact or the truth, an advertisement such as this is a window into the world of politics for the uninformed masses. Again, the advertisement uses a satirical logical fallacy when it describes the yellow bird from Sesame Street, "Big Bird", an "Evil Mastermind". Comparing the character to an evil mastermind is obviously an over exaggeration, but its intention is to make it believable Mitt Romney is misusing his political power focusing on a fight against what the advertisement describes as "big, yellow, a

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The ad contains several hidden techniques. The title is a lead to attract Democrats with the use of Pathos. It is used to induce fear in the democrats to make them feel as they may lose this election. The image also provides a hidden message; a stereotypical republican by interpretation is shown voting. From this image we can infer that Florida contains many people who share the similar views with trump and it being the first state to vote may cause people to alter their predictions as to who is going to be their next president.

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Advertising has been around for decades and has been the center point for buyers by different subjects peaking different audience’s interests. Advertisers make attempts to strengthen the implied and unequivocal messages in trying to manipulate consumers’ decisions. Jib Fowles wrote an article called “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals,” explaining where he got his ideas about the appeals, from studying interviews by Henry A. Murray. Fowles gives details and examples on how each appeal is used and how advertisements can “form people’s deep-lying desires, and picturing states of being that individuals privately yearn for” (552). The minds of human beings can be influenced by many basic needs for example, the need for sex, affiliation, nurture,

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