Aldhahi 1

Aldhahi, Talal
Professor DeGraffenreid
Engli`sh 113B (5:30 pm)
March 12, 2015
Successful advertisements
Advertisements are the best solution for marketing a product, but only few companies
succeed in their commercials. What makes an advertisement successful are the three appeals,
Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. Each one of those appeals completes the other to make a perfect
marketing solution. Companies use the three appeals in a manipulative way to reach their goal
and to deliver their message. The two ads are The Theory of Everything movie trailer and the
organ donor ad. Although the organ donor ad had a stronger use of Pathos, the Theory of
Everything advertisement was more successful than the organ donor advertisement, because it
has all three appeals while the other advertisement had just Pathos and Logos. Some ads just
have Pathos alone or Ethos, but they make it a strong one. The three appeals connect with the
audience in general or with a specific audience.
The two advertisements use the rhetorical appeals differently. First rhetorical appeal is
Pathos and it appeals to an audience's needs, values, and emotional sensibilities. Each Pathos
represented a different emotional situation. The first advertisement is the organ donor ad and the
second was a movie premiere ad. The organ donor advertisement had a really strong Pathos that
played with my emotions and made me happy and sad at the same time. The Pathos in the organ
donor ad showed a patient hugging a dead organ donor soul.

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This made me really happy and actually convinced me to sign up for organ donation, because I
want to help someone live. There is a phrase in the Holy Quran that says, If anyone saved a life
it would be as if he saved the life of all people and that shows how our lives are valuable. In the
other advertisement, there was Pathos but it was not strong as the organ donor ad. In the Theory
of Everything advertisement, the pathos was effective. The Pathos in the second advertisement
made my emotions react weird. It was really romantic and can make people want to fall in love.
Pathos plays a great manipulative role in advertisements. There is a great article that I read that
said "Highly skeptical consumers have likely become skeptical over time, in response to
numerous interactions in the marketplace that have led them to distrust ad claims. Advertisers
have developed strategies for approaching these skeptical consumers, including
using emotional appeals, whose success does not require acceptance of informational claims."

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The article basically tells us that pathos can grab people attention by the use of feelings. And that
surely prove the great affect of Pathos in any advertisement. Pathos can be represented as colors
and lights also. In the organ donor ad the picture color was more like a light turquoise, which
makes the audience feel the joy and the connection to the heart that is going on in the
advertisement. In the Theory of Everything ad the picture color was brown and with a very low
light and that gives the audience the feeling of unit of family and support. That shows how
pathos can have a great effect on the audience.
The second important appeal is Ethos. Ethos appeals to ethics and credibility. In the first
advertisement with the organ donor, it did not include any Ethos because there was nothing
related to ethics. If the patient in the organ donor advertisement were a celebrity then that would
be an Ethos because it relate to ethics since our society care about celebrities. In the second ad
there were two Strong Ethos and they were Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. Eddie
Redmayen is a young Oscar winner actor and Felicity jones is a beautiful Oscar nominated
actress. Celebrities are Ethos because they tend toward ethics. That makes a good Ethos but for a
specific audience because they are both young actors so their audience would be mostly young
people. Intended audience is when the ads are made for a specific audience that will relate to the
ad, and it is really important because you cannot show a cooking advertisement to teenagers. It
just cannot work because the advertisement will not interest him. Every ad company should
consider their audience so they can make their ad successful. Famous advertisement companies
tend to use Ethos as their plan B if the advertisement was not good enough. Since young people
are the most people who watch television advertisements uses them by showing them their
interests. By showing people famous celebrities in the commercials the advertisement companies
reach their goal, which is money.

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The third important appeal is called Logos and it appeals to logic. People with scientific
minds mostly lean toward Logos. In my first advertisement, there was a Logos and it was really
clear. The organ donor advertisement Logos was Thousand of people owe their lives to organ
donors. This clearly shows a true and affective statement because it tells us that many people
sign for organ donations. That was a strong and easy Logos. The second ad The Theory of
Everything advertisement had many strong Logos. The Logos that my second ad has is four
Golden Globe Awards nominations, best picture, best actor, and best actress. Logos sometimes
can be so convincing and tricky especially when its facts about winning in something. The
Theory of Everything ad showed that the movie had won 4 different awards and that makes me
want to see the movie. The use of logos is really important because it makes the ad looks more
realistic. Advertisements Companies use logos more often because it is more convincing.

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I truly believe that the second ad is more successful than the first one. Not only just
because the second ad had all three appeals but because it had strong appeals that what made it
really connecting and persuading. Choosing strong appeals can make a huge difference in an
advertisement rather that just using weak a methods. The real argument that is happening in most
of the advertisement is getting our support either by money or by other things. The more money
that the advertisement makes the more it proves that it was successful. There are many reasons
why some advertisements companies fail to reach their goal such as not considering their
audience or by using the three appeals in a wrong way. The tree appeals can be used in a wrong
way and mostly Pathos because it is the most affecting one. Pathos can be used in a really
depressing and disturbing way and that for sure will not be pleasant to the audience. None of my
advertisements had a disturbing Pathos. Everything that is over will be bad and unpleasant.
Successful advertisements companies always use strong appeals but simple. If the companies
used really over appeals the ad will never be successful. All advertisements should have the three
appeals with the intended audience, intended argument, and the real argument.
Both ads The Theory of Everything and the organ donor ad had an intended argument. In
the first ad, The Theory of Everything advertisement had an obvious intended argument and it
was to buy the tickets and watch the movie. The ad companies really just want our money. They
do not care about anything related to our emotions and feelings they just wanted to sell movie
tickets as much as possible. In the second ad, which was the organ donor ad there is also an
intended argument. The organ donor ad intended argument was to sign up for organ donation but
specifically for their organization. If they really cared about organ donations they should put all
the other places for donation. The intended argument for most ad companies is to manipulate us.

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Intended audience is one of the tricks that ad companies use to manipulate people. Ad companies
tend to convince specific audience to reach their goals. The first ad intended audience is people
who want to fall love or who already have fallen in love so they can relate to it. In the second ad,
the organ donor ad intended audience was all people who can donate there organs so definitely
adults above the age of eighteen. Using intended audience is really a smart idea because it
convinces people by relating to there emotions. The real argument is what going on in the ad and
what are they seeking to deliver to the audience. The real argument in both ads is to support
either by money or by donations. So the real argument is the truth behind the advertisements.
Advertisement companies spend a lot amount of money over one ad.Advertisements are
found in many places such as in the radio, television, and in print media. Each one of those has
it own specific audience for example the internet ads are mostly watched by younger people
because the tend to use technology more than older people. Print media such as, newspaper are
mostly viewed by older people who like to read. So the process of making an advertisement is
not easy. Companies make meetings for weeks just to make one great ad. Although successful ad
companies spends many money over advertisements they get their money even more because
they uses the right strategies such as intended audience, intended argument, and the three
appeals. Advertisements companies really do not care about the audience health, feelings, or
values. What they really care about is the money. Advertisements that are really bad for specific
audience such as teenagers should not be published. There is a great article that said, "Could
have restricted where advertisements were placed, limited the content of advertisements and most importantly - banned drinks industry sponsorship of youth leisure activities." This quote
meant that there are special ads shouldnt be revealed to younger people so they wont influenced
by it.

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All these tricks are really important in the process of making a successful advertisement.
The Theory of Everything is more successful than the organ donor ad because it has all the three
appeals Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. In the organ donor ad ethos was missing. Ethos can play great
role in an ad to make it successful. That is why the organ donor ad was less successful that the
Theory of Everything advertisement. The Theory of Everything ad also has a strong intended
argument, intended audience, and a real argument. While the organ donor ad has only pathos, and
logos. The organ donor ad also has intended argument, intended audience, and real argument.
Having the three appeals doesnt mean that it is successful. Some ads have only two appeals and
successful. The key of having a successful ad is to find the right amount of pathos, ethos, and
logos. Advertisements sometimes can be really disturbing and intense when ad companies uses a
strong appeal such as using pathos in a wrong way can make the audience feel uncomfortable.
Logos helped in a way, establishing Ethos because logos are mostly facts and statistics that
describes our Ethos such as all the awards that the actors won in the ad.
Marketing a product can be really difficult. Ad companies started to use the rhetorical
appeals to make their ads successful but only few companies knew how to use them well. The
Theory of Everything ad was more successful than the organ donor ad. Both ads have used the

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three appeals to deliver their message, but only The Theory of Everything ad used the appeals
correctly. The Theory of Everything ad had the whole package while the organ donor did not.
Both ads had the intended audience, intended argument, and real argument. Most ads have the
intended argument and real argument because they are really important to know the message of
the ad. It is recommended to use all three appeals with the intended audience, intended argument,
and real argument but no necessary. So The Theory of Everything ad is more successful than the
organ donor ad. At last, advertisements are a manipulative way to make the people react to the
products and makes them want to buy it or support it.

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Works Cited
University of Washington. Ads Win Skeptical Consumers. CSUN Library. The Vancouver Sun
(British Columbia), 12 Dec. 2005. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
Elizabeth, Joseph Asino. Smart Businesses Are Changing Marketing Strategies. CSUN
Library. N.p. 1 Dec 2o15. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Dulin, Norma. Commentary: Ethos, Pathos and Logos: Creating the Perfect Storm for
Marketing Success. CSUN Library. Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), 19 Aug.
2011. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Advertising of Alcohol. CSUN Library. The Irish Times, 14 Oct. 2005. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
Using Rhetorical Strategies for Persuasion. Purdue OWL: Establishing Arguments. Purdue
University, 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.