Running head: PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT

Public Service Embellishment Alexander Van Dyke Salt Lake Community College ENG 2010-002

PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT

On a daily basis, the people of this country are bombarded by advertisement. From every angle, our televisions, newspapers, computers, and mobile devices are constantly trying to sell us things and telling us what we need. A form of advertising known as a public service announcement (PSA) is often used to incite some type of social, political, or public health policy change. Some of these advertisements even attempt to un-sell a product or idea to the general public. At times these are effective instruments of change, while at other times you find the advertisements creator missing the mark entirely. A little over a decade ago, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America released a public service announcement illustrating the dangers of smoking marijuana, and specifically driving under the influence of marijuana. In this television spot, a scene is repeated in which teenagers who are presumably under the influence of marijuana are seen in a vehicle at the drive thru of a restaurant. As they leave, a little girl is passing by the drive thru exit on her bicycle. The girl passes by the drive thru exit successfully in every scene but the last one. Finally, in the last repetition of the scene, she is struck by the vehicle. Upon thorough analysis it is quite easy to determine how this public service announcement has failed to persuade its audience due to a poor comprehensive use of logos, pathos, and ethos rhetorical appeals. The practice of appealing to the audiences sense of logic, also known as logos, is noticeably scarce in this advertisement. Logical arguments include facts, statistics, and even basic common sense. The only verbal fact shown to the audience comes at the end of the advertisement. It mentions that marijuana slows down your reaction time. While this fact may be true, the example of restaurant patrons in a drive thru traveling the length of the building and running over a girl on a bike is a poor example. The driver is traveling at a very slow speed, and has some distance to travel before hitting the girl. Perhaps this point could have been better

PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT illustrated by posing a situation in which an intoxicated driver has to take evasive action at high speed, and cannot do so in a sufficient and timely manner. Though there is a lack of explicit

logical argumentation, there is a more subtle argument that occurs throughout the announcement as the scene repeats itself. In its last repetition, the girl is struck and presumably killed. The point being made by the creator of the video is that just because you have driven intoxicated without incident numerous times, it does not mean that incidents wont eventually occur. This seems to be the only moderately agreeable logical argument within this video clip. However, logic is not the only tool used in order to persuade an audience. Pathos, or the attempt to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions, is extremely prominent in this PSA. The pitch of the voices coming from the car, the old age and type of car leads the viewer to believe that the driver and passenger(s) of the car are in their teens. This indicates that the advertisements target audience is either teenagers or parents of teenagers. This PSA strongly appeals to their fear. The most obvious instance of this appeal is when the car collides with the little girl at the end of the segment. After seeing this, a person who uses marijuana may begin to think that, at any time, they could make a grave mistake with catastrophic consequences. A parents reaction might also entail worrying that their child may become a perpetrator or a victim of a similar incident. The attempt at inciting this type of emotional response is amplified by the fact that the person on the sidewalk is an innocent little girl riding her bicycle. If the creator of this television spot was not trying to garner such a strong reaction, he or she would have cast someone else for that part, e.g., a middle-aged male. Additionally, this PSA appeals to the viewers pride. While the car is in the drive thru, the driver and passenger(s) are speaking in a mindless, slang-ridden manner. This seems to be an attempt to make the viewer believe that anyone who uses, and particularly who operates a vehicle while

PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT using marijuana is automatically unintelligent. While it has been proven that marijuana can affect ones ability to think critically while intoxicated, it does not make them a stupid person. For fear of being regarded by themselves or others as an intellectually deficient individual, a viewer may be persuaded by this advertisement to stop using marijuana. Furthermore, they might also be driven towards quitting to avoid being branded as a murderer should they participate in a similar incident. Viewers who are parents of teens may also be persuaded to

monitor their teenage children more closely after viewing this PSA. They may do so for the fear of being labeled a bad parent or the parent of an idiot should their child use this drug. While these appeals to the readers emotions are quite important, credibility is also vital while attempting to persuade an audience. The practice of appealing to the authority or credibility of the presenter, also known as ethos, is entirely nonexistent in this clip. The Partnership at Drugfree.org (known at the time of the advertisement as Partnership for a Drug-Free America) was formed in 1985 as a response to the worsening epidemic of drug use in the 1980s in the United States. They are a non-profit organization that engages in informing the public on the dangers of drug use. One method in informing the public that they have used is broadcasting public service announcements. The most prominent of these was the This is Your Brain on Drugs campaign. The more recent drive thru advertisement could have, at the very least, mentioned that it was created by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America in order to lend it some credence. Now that this persuasive works use of rhetoric has been meticulously illustrated, its downfall is quite apparent. This public service announcement lacks solid logical argument, embellishes and over emphasizes emotional appeals, and does not attempt to establish credibility in any way. The ability to detect the poor use of rhetorical appeals in advertisement helps one

PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT become a more informed member of society. Perhaps the next time you see an advertisement or public service announcement, it will be less difficult to dissect it and find out which methods its creator employed in order to persuade its audience.

PUBLIC SERVICE EMBELLISHMENT Works Cited Anti-Marijuana Ad / Commercial [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKCYDrur_WI