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Katrina Slaughter

Mrs.Litle

English 121

February 11 2019

Bic’s Women’s Day Ad

An ad by Bic released on Women’s day of 2015 sparked a lot of outrage among women;

being considered sexist, misogynistic, and “ageist” . Opinions aside, the ad shows a nicely

dressed woman in a button-up shirt and a tan blazer with her arms crossed and hair neatly

brushed onto her back. She appears confident, content, and symbolises the idea of the average

American business woman. The text on the ad reads “Look like a girl, Act like a lady, Think like a

man, Work like a boss” which does not directly show ethos, pathos, or logos but can easily be

translated to show these things.

This ad did not give me much to work with in terms of Ethos but the credibility is simply

the company name,colour scheme, and logo. The familiar yellow and white theme gives the

audience a feeling of ease as they know that this is a brand they can trust. More than anything

though, the name and logo in the bottom right corner reminds the consumer of the trustworthy

company they would be buying from.

The smile from the woman modeling in the ad shows the idea of happiness if you buy

the product which is a psychological tactic; showing someone who is happy with a product

implies that buying the product being advertised will also make you more happy overall.

Whether or not that is true does not matter, the point of the ad is to make you think you need
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the product being sold. In this case there is no specific product but rather the name of the

company is being sold.

The phrase “Think like a man” which I believe is pathos as it suggests that women

should think like men to make us equals. This relates to pathos because it shows passion

toward women and men being equal.The phrase to follow that reads “Work like a boss” further

supports the previous line which is meant to suggest that women can also be the boss and get

things done the same as men. The other reason that this comes across as pathos to me is

because it gives the reader the feeling of progession, the idea that we are becoming more

equal.

The first part of the text “look like a girl”; refers to looking nicely within a workplace. I

believe that this refers to logos because it’s saying logically you should but I do think it was

poorly worded as it could have been said without the emphasis by using the word “girl”. The

phrase that follows “Act like a lady” can also easily been viewed as Bic telling women to act

feminine within the workplace (Bic being known for selling pens, among other products, this

only makes sense that they would refer to a work setting).

Overall the advertisement, while it may have had good intentions, came out poorly and

backfired massively on the company and finding the logos, pathos, and ethos in it was

somewhat tricky as they are not overly clear. The purpose, however, is clear. The purpose is to

sell products and further the good reputation of the company by showing support for women

within the workplace.