Chris

Assignment 4: Commercial Analysis

Wade
Assignment 4: The Dark Side of Advertising: Persuasion and Manipulation
Rhetoric: Although impossible, it seems Aristotle may have had this Airbnb advertisement in mind when
he coined the term pathos! Used to describe rhetorical strategies, the Greek philosopher noted that there are
three universal forms of persuasion, and that each is effective in convincing others to think as you do
(Kuglich, 2014). Unlike logos, which appeals to the viewers' sense of logic, there are no statistics or facts,
and unlike ethos, which appeals to plausibility, there are no testimonials. Instead, this Airbnb commercial
is heavy on the pathos, the last of Aristotle's rhetorical strategies. Pathos, simply stated, is an emotional
appeal. This commercial in particular, appeals to the viewers' sense of justice and fairness. The Accept
Commercial of Airbnb makes the viewer feel pity for those who have not been handled justly or fairly, not
just by those in the Airbnb community, but the world! Moreover, it may even move some viewers to follow
the golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. It is a gut check, in essence, and may cause one
to question their own sense of morality.

Overall message: The message of the Airbnb Accept commercial is simply to use our service providers
because we not only tolerate one another's differences, but we embrace them i.e. we accept all human beings
no matter race, religion, or gender. Although a noble sentiment, the motivation of the advertiser is to get
viewers to use the Airbnb service to grow their brand. Additionally, the commercial appears to be
attempting to convey the same message to the providers themselves because of some prior reports of
maltreatment of guests due to race.

The commercial, although not explicitly shown, has a global setting. This is conveyed with the faces of the
diverse members of the world community. In this Airbnb commercial, all races, both genders, and some
implied religions are represented. Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and Whites are shot at a close angle in attempt
to draw the viewers into the humanity of those being featured in the spot. As such, no objects are present
in the advertisement. The focus remains on the appeal to our sense of justice and humanity toward all.

The commercial opens with an extremely close angle of three pupils: one blue, one brown, and the other
green. From there, the faces of many people stare intently into the camera as the text is sprawled across the
screen promoting the overall message of the advertisement. After the close-up of the face, the camera zooms
in and out rapidly to focus on the eyes of the subjects to personalize the subjects even further. Additionally,
one face blends into the other as if to suggest the commonality in all human beings.

Production: Although the Airbnb Accept commercial is espousing a sense of community, there is marginal
use of cultural coding that may more directly connect to the dominant culture in the United States. The
initial image for each section of the commercial (iris only then faces only) is of a blue iris and then a white
person with blue eyes. This may be a subliminal message (Merikle, 2017) to suggest that, although all races
and cultures are important, white clients are of the greatest importance to Airbnb. Despite this, the overall
message of the commercial is that diversity should be embraced and is welcomed by Airbnb.

Distribution: The Superbowl is a truly inclusive event. Year after year, people from all walks of life tune
in to watch this sporting event. This Airbnb commercial debuted at Superbowl 2017. Despite having the
fewest viewers of the last three years with over 111 million watching, the Superbowl has become almost
like an unofficial holiday where family and friends gather to share food, drink, and a television. Aired on
Sunday evenings, this event is such an ideal time to air a commercial, that advertisers pay millions of dollars
buy time during the event. In fact, some viewers of the event are simply watching just to evaluate the
commercials themselves! In turn, advertisers are aware that if their ad is a success, they will continue to
Chris
Assignment 4: Commercial Analysis
Wade
reap some free press on social media because of sharing and retweeting.

Persuasive techniques: Is propaganda always negative? It depends on who you ask. Like beauty, it is in
the eye of the beholder. While propaganda has historically been used negatively (sometimes with tragic
consequences), in the case of Airbnb, their political message seems to attempt to indoctrinate people in a
positive and constructive way. Of course, not for an altruistic purpose; they produced the spot to counter
accusations of clients being mistreated by their hosts because of race. Ultimately, they are employing this
propagandized advertisement to counter the negative press their company received and repair their brand.
However, as a viewer who shares the same values, this persuasive technique is not unappreciated. Visually,
the extreme close-ups and the facial blending make the advertisement much more personal and allow people
to connect to the other people even though they may not look like them.

Aurally, the emphasis and tone techniques enable the commercial have the impact that is does. During the
montage of faces, the viewer is almost forced to connect with the subjects of the images because of the
virtually intimate proximity between the viewer and the image. Secondly, the tone of the text, which some
may find preachy, is steady and paced well enough for viewers to read the message and view the faces
simultaneously.

Reflection:
This assignment was another eye opener for me. Propaganda and other such techniques have held such
negative connotations in my estimation up until now. However, this assignment has caused me to rethink
my position. If the message has merit and has some benefit to mankind, then why not? We as consumers
have to think critically and determine which messages we will allow to take hold and remain with us long
after the message has been conveyed. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that the ultimate intent of
commercials is to part you with your cash, commerce is the bedrock of our economy, and a strong economy
is generally a positive for its citizenry.

Helping students to think critically and for themselves is an arduous task, but using commercials is an
engaging medium that can assist in this task. Teachers can use commercials to explicitly teach each
persuasive techniques. He or she can model their analysis of commercial, then guide them through an
analysis that teacher and students complete together, and finally release students to do one of two things:
analyze a commercial on their own or even create a commercial of their own. Either way, students will
likely never view commercials again in quite the same way.
References:

Kuglich, D. (2014). The art of rhetoric: Persuasive techniques in advertising. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeCz5fy02JE

Merlikle, P. (2017). Subliminal advertising: How subliminal advertising has been used to influence the
public. Retrieved from http://www.psychologistworld.com/influence_personality/subliminalads.ph