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Audris Wong
English 120 Section 23
Andrew Laudel, Instructor
March 17, 2014
Ad Analysis
Thank You, Mom
If we could say there is one real global, universal culture, observable in any country, it
would be capitalism. Because of this, the most common form of rhetoric and wide-reaching
communication, comes as advertisements. Businesses everywhere are in competition for our
attention, and if they can just get that opportunity to hold our attention for just a second, an
enormous window of opportunity is opened to sell us something. The messages they convey
wants to stir us into to action, and that action is to go out and get their product as soon as we can.
In this Olympic Procter & Gamble ad, are we stirred, and if so how? In visual anthropology, they
called this phenomenon as being interpolated, or interpolation (Sturken & Cartwright 92). The
Free Dictionary by Farlex defines interpolation as the action of interjecting or interposing an
action or remark that interrupts. Interruption is the perfect way to put it. Its an interruption of
our usual thoughts and intake.
When we think of rhetoric we also consider the spaces in which we write, converse,
debate, and share ideas (Losh, et al. 38). By including space in its description, theres a
distinction that moves away from just purely looking at content. By saying rhetoric is about the
spaces which we write it, it forces us to adopt a perspective thats encompasses more than just
what is said and expands to include who is it said towards, who is saying it, and when was it
said. The advertisement I chose was from the Sochi Olympics and similar events like the

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Superbowl, its highly televised and short-term. Millions of people are tuned in. The commercial
breaks for these events are like prime real estate, where opportunistic companies make attempts
to relate their product.
This Procter & Gamble ad starts off with a relatively long montage of babies learning to
walk and falling down over and over again. Olympics commercials run off of themes like
endurance, commitment, dedication, perfection, strength, and hard work. The mothers
overlooking these babies speak different languages, possibly Russian and another French. This
made me think that the ad was probably directed towards a more global viewership, not just for
Americans. Its very possible that there was somewhat of a loss for potential American
consumers, using languages other than English, but the company would be able to direct their ad
towards a wider audience. Credibility has two components: trustworthiness and expertise- the
subjective and the objective (Hirschberg 296). Using other languages was the subjective
component that was going to gain the trust of the people watching. The makers of the ad were
very conscious of that and knew the simple truth that people generally like people similar to
themselves, people they can identify with.
Up to half the commercial time are painful clips of children falling hard while skating,
playing hockey, snowboarding, and skiing. In each clip theres a mom there to help them through
the tears, to soak their feet in hot water, and ice their shoulder. All of the clips also appear to
look like home videos, and the realism appeals to authenticity. Its a really powerful first sixty
seconds because we can so clearly see the pain on the faces of the children. Its not just the pain
of disappointment due to falling down, but also the pain physical injury. A young hockey player
is miserable and crying because hes covered in ice. As his mom changes his clothes she says
soothingly, I know. Its cold. A teenage girl who is in a doctors office with her mother lays

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back and cries as a she stretches out a healing broken leg. Its extremely powerful and actually
very hard to watch; it might be powerful because it is difficult to watch. It almost seems cruel
that these children are enduring so much pain in their sport and continue to be pushed on by their
mothers.
So why would Proctor & Gamble show this? Well, there are a couple of reasons. The ad
could have started with the images of athletes succeeding first, but they didnt. Sean Molloy
(referencing Corbett and Connors) identifies this type of introduction as opening with an unusual
approach for [the] discussion (1). Given how many commercials one person sees on television in
their lifetime and the small two to three minutes allotted per commercial, companies need to
hook the viewers attention immediately. This unusual approach is definitely attention-worthy.
Instead of shying away from the pain and struggles of athletes, the artistic choice was to magnify
them. Not only that, there was an active choice made to depict children getting defeated, instead
of full-grown adult athletes. Its a combination of appeal to pity and an appeal to something
common to most people: struggle. It affects at our innate human desire to be able to see that it is
indeed possible to rise from the ashes. Especially for women and mothers, it activates our
biological need to protect our young from any harm possible. It appeals to our emotions and
pulls at our heartstrings.
The meat of the overall rhetoric, is to openly get the viewer to identify and agree with
the author (Molloy 2). Unless a person is superman or superwoman, everyone knows what it
feels like to try and fail. Its relatable and stirs up a lot of emotion. Theres sympathy and
empathy. By identifying with the athletes, we build a trust, which once again, builds credibility.
The second half of the ad transitions to what appears to be the young kids all grown up.
They ultimately succeed in their goals and celebrating their wins. The hockey player looks into

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the crown and gives his mother a proud smile. The skier makes the finish line, finds her mother
in the crowd, and hugs her tight. The screen at the end has the words For teaching us that falling
only makes us stronger. Thank you, Mom. Again, Procter & Gamble wants to make something
that hits close to home. What better way to relate by saying, teaching us, rather than saying
teaching them. It affirms the consequent by saying that the only reason why Olympic athletes
succeed, is because of their mothers. After, several well known Procter & Gamble products are
flashed quickly across the screen. Theres Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Duracell, and Bounty. Sure,
P&G take advantage societys heteronormative, and possibly misogynistic ideal of families by
associating household chores with only moms. These are popular household products everybody
knows and that are generally thought of as used by mothers who wipe down counters, do the
laundry, change diapers, etc. Although this might underrepresent single dads, gay dads, or any
other non-mother parent, its the loving role of a caregiver that still remains identifiable. Also by
mentioning the products that are so familiar, Procter and Gamble make another appeal to
trustworthiness. Theyre saying, You trust us, you already know us.
At the very end of the ad a narrator says P&G, a proud sponsor of moms. Their
rationalization is that these products exist to make the life of being a mom easier. Therefore these
moms can be better at being their childrens number one supporter. In The Rhetoric of
Advertising Stuart Hirschberg describes this as a transfer of attributes, ideas, and feelings. The
significance of strength from persistence, strength from failure, and strength from parental
support, is transferred onto the products, which in this case are all Procter & Gamble products.
These products are intended to give the perception o strength. In the end, this isnt only just done
by associating the two- he product and the images. Procter & Gamble also wants the audience to
realize a logical relationship of cause and effect (Molloy 3). However, its a far stretch, and a

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weak form of creating a cause out of correlation. Its an If A, then B type of reasoning, and the
relationship might not exactly be a causal one but as long as theres a correlation, its more than
powerful enough to plant the seed into the mind of viewers.
It is one bit of logical fallacy but the emotional aspect of the advertisement, is still
powerful enough on its own to make a great impression. Theres something about the emotional
charge of a subject that resonates with people more than a good amount of other things. At times
emotions override logic, and they have the ability to stand out in our minds better than most
memories. When youre flattering an enormous population of the world such as mothers, its
likely the number of hits will more than make up for the number of misses. Merely a positive
association between the people and the products is more than enough to work its cognitive bias
magic.



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Works Cited


Corbett, Edward and Robert Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 4th ed. New
York: Oxford U P, 1999. 259-292. Print.

Hirschberg, Stuart. The Rhetoric of Advertising. The Essential Strategies of Argument. 291-
297.
_____:Longman 1996. Print.

"Interpolation." Princeton University The Free Dictionary. Huntingdon: Farlex Inc., 2012.
Web.
23 Feb. 2014.

Losh, Elizabeth, et al. Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston: Bedford,
2013. Print.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.
2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

Molloy, Sean. Some Common Parts and Standard Tactics of Rhetorical Writing.. 2013. Print.


Procter & Gamble. Thank you, Mom. Online Video Clip. Youtube. 5 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Feb.
2014.