The core aim of rhetoric is persuasion, and we can learn a lot about rhetoric by studying one of its purest forms, modern-day advertising. An industry widely recognized for its sophisticated grasp of the psychology of persuasion, advertisers teach us that persuasion depends not just on what you say but how you say it. Inheritors of a rhetorical tradition traceable to Aristotle, ads routinely reframe logical arguments as emotional appeals.

In addition to Rhetorical tradition, modern advertising draws on findings from the past century of sociological research. Harnessing fundamental psychological needs for identity and belonging, ads sell products as a mode of self-expression. Thus, this unit will provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary study, drawing on material you’re learning in social science to achieve a deeper understanding of the topic.

The starting point for our discussion of the methods and cultural impact of the advertising industry will be The Persuaders, a documentary on advertising created in 2004 by Douglas Rushkoff for PBS’s Frontline. While its title reminds us that the roots of advertising lie in the rhetorical tradition, the movie focuses on recent changes in the industry as advertisers adopt new methods and pioneer new media, from product placement to guerrilla marketing to narrowcast ads to statistical research.

Your essay should focus on a single ad or advertising campaign. But you can use this analysis to do any number of things: from cultural commentary of the role of ads in our society to appreciative commentary on the methods of persuasion employed by your choice of ad.

As you analyze your ad or ad campaign, you should aim for in-depth understanding of how it works: What emotions does it play on? How does it do so? What category of viewers does it appeal to? Does it address their insecurities? their self-esteem? their need to play a certain social role? How might concepts like cognitive dissonance or anomie help to explain the ad? You’re encouraged to draw upon ideas and analytical tools you’re learnning about in Social Science readings (e.g. Mead, Cooley, Mills, Durkheim, and Simmel) to explain how your ads play on issues of self-identity and concerns about how the individual fits into society.

Connecting to Social Science is not a requirement, merely an option. Do feel free to consult with your Soc Sci prof for help in pinpointing a source that’s well suited to the stuff going on in your particular advertisement.

A note on independent research If you dig up a source of information or ideas about advertising on your own, you must show it to me during office hours and get my approval before using it in your essay. I haven’t had a chance to teach you about vetting internet sources, so any outside sources you find will be considered suspect until proven otherwise.

Regardless of your aim, your essay should focus on 1-3 ads as your principal body of evidence, and it should draw on at least one “idea source.” Focus narrowly and go deep: try to make do with just a single ad, or a comparison between two ads. Some starter questions to push your analysis in a good direction:

• What social group does the ad target? How do you know?
• What form or forms of rhetorical appeal does the ad make (ethos, logos, pathos)?
• What is the ad’s explicit or implicit message?
• What values or cultural prejudices does it invoke?
• How does it appeal to group dynamics and identity?

I would prefer that you choose relatively recent ads, from 2009 onward—though you can cite earlier ads if you have a good reason for doing so. You’d be well advised to start with a large number of ads as you explore the topic, narrowing down which ad to focus on as you work out what you want to write about. After all, if you take enough notes to fill up 10 essays, you’ll be free to choose the best, most interesting topic.

Rhetorical skills to be developed:

• deepening ¶ structure — each ¶ has a distinct mission, one that builds on or undercuts the prior ¶
• reconceptualizing your essay’s thesis as its mission — using the introduction to motivate your reader’s interest in your essay’s project
• strand analysis — explaining, by reference to set of related details, how a text (words, image or video) evokes an emotional response in viewers
• binary analysis — explaining, by reference to two oppositional strands, how a text shapes a viewer’s thoughts
• drawing on the ideas of outside experts for inspiration and insight.