Garcia 1

Bryana I. Garcia

Amy Dotson

Engl 1120-044

12 March 2023

Rhetorical Analysis

The Mezquite market is a local grocery store, but not just your typical grocery store. This

market appeals to the Mexican American community. All the ingredients needed to make

authentic Mexican dishes can be found at these grocery stores. Many families use this grocery

store to carry on their culture and pass it down to future generations. So many people see this

grocery store as a part of their culture. Their advertisement not only promotes the grocery store

but also the homemade pastries, salsa bar, and wide selection of specially cut meats. Rhetorical

elements like language, pathos, music, and grabbing the audience's attention, are what make this

advertisement effective. They appeal to the audience as it evokes emotions, and send a message

that is distinct and memorable.

Pathos is demonstrated throughout this advertisement as it appeals to emotion. The

mezquite market sells products that are key to making authentic Mexican cuisine. Meaning if

you are of Hispanic background you can carry on making traditional dishes just like your parents

and grandparents have been doing for generations. However, the store does not appeal to just

those with a Hispanic heritage but to everyone. "We're seeing the same traditional Mexican items

growing in popularity as new people are introduced to Mexican food” according to Jacque

Kochak. The food that middle-class Mexican families eat at home falls somewhere in the center,

and is increasingly surfacing on more and more Mexican menus because of the “rapid growth of

Mexican food and spreading into new regions”. This encourages anyone who wants to make
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traditional Mexican dishes, able to do so at home by getting the needed groceries at the mezquite

market. Brands must be able to develop an emotional bond with the target audience in order to

successfully market to them, so it is important to know the audience you are targeting. As a

result, the most effective advertising campaigns are those that can take their creativity to the next

level by identifying those points of connection. The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that

Hispanics in the United States are extremely diverse, with roots spanning all of Latin America

and beyond.

Language has a significant impact on how individuals respond. The language that is used

to deliver particular messages with the goal of influencing people is crucial. The main message

in this advertisement is for people to visit and do their grocery shopping at this market. By using

terms that make people feel excited, you could urge them to connect those emotions with the

item or service being sold. For instance, the ad says “ is not like your typical grocery store, it's

more like a fun flavor-filled cultural experience”. This statement is not only trying to get the

audience excited but also trying to persuade them. This is a type of advertising that aims to

persuade a consumer that shopping at that grocery store is an experience that you will not get

from any other American grocery store. The language that is used to convey particular messages

with the goal of influencing people is important. Although the impact of visual content and

design in advertising on the consumer is very significant, language is what enables people to

recognize and remember a product or in this case a grocery store. The goal of the persuasive

strategy known as logos is to persuade a listener by appealing to reason and logic. The primary

objective of persuasive advertising is to meet consumer needs. These techniques frequently

produce appeals that offer users very personal advantages.

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Music in advertisements helps grab the audience's attention, in this case, the music

playing traditional mariachi music. The song is called “las alazanas” which is played by a

famous group called Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. This song is well known to the Mexican

American community as it is heard in many celebrations throughout mexico. Playing authentic

Mexican music not appeals to the ear but also demonstrates the culture. Using regional Mexican

music in your advertising could be a way to connect with those particular audiences in an

authentic way and show that you have a greater understanding of Hispanics as a whole.

Particularly for Hispanic audiences, music can serve as a bridge to their native land, a means of

passing down the family history to younger generations, or just a unifying force that brings

people together. According to an article written by Heather Janak from Texas A&m University,

“Study participants who were shown the version of a commercial that included music in the

background had higher emotional arousal and attention level than those who were shown a

version that only included narration”. Meaning The emotional response to television

commercials can be greatly influenced by the use of music in advertising on various levels and

through various means. Thus proving that having background music appeals to the audience. The

visuals in advertising are also important to keep your audience's attention. The art of using

images as visual cues to describe your business is known as visual advertising. Multimedia

marketing strategies, whether you use still or moving images, significantly increase the

effectiveness of a campaign. For instance, visual advertising can quickly communicate value

ideas and grab attention, says Ted Vrountas. This can be seen in the Mezquite market ad as they

show what their grocery store has to offer, Whether it’s their baked goods, specialty cut meats, or

their tasty food from their restaurant.

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Ultimately, this advertisement for the mezquite market got its point across in an effective way.

Advertising uses a variety of persuasive techniques. By using rhetorical elements such as

language, and pathos, grabbing the audience's attention. Advertising never makes choices

regarding language at random. Pathos can be used to evoke any emotion that will motivate the

audience to act, including happiness, sadness, excitement, or any other. Consumers may benefit

from attention-grabbing marketing that stimulates emotion and encourages others to share. They

represent an effort to use language to accomplish a specific objective. These rhetorical elements

were used to make emotional connections, persuade, and finally keep the audience entertained.
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Works Cited

Janak, Heather. “How Background Music In Ads Affects Consumers - Texas A&M Today.”

Texas A&M Today, 16 August 2021,

https://today.tamu.edu/2021/08/16/how-background-music-in-ads-affects-consumers/.

Accessed 12 March 2023.

King, Cassandra. “What Makes Ads Effective? Ad Framework And Design Checklist.”

Superside, 17 January 2022,

https://www.superside.com/blog/effective-ads-framework-and-checklist. Accessed 12

March 2023.

Kochak, Jacque. “Mexican Menus Invade American Markets.” RESTAURANT BUSINESS,

vol.83, Apr. 1984, pp. 144–66. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=chd&AN=XCHD34781&site=eds-live

&scope=site.

Vrountas, Ted. “The Best Visual Advertising Techniques You Will Find in the Pre & Post-Click

Stage.” Instapage, 2018, https://instapage.com/blog/visual-advertising. Accessed 12

March 2023.
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SLO’s

Rhetorical Situation and Genre

For a while I didn’t quite understand what Rhetorical situation was, until this assignment. I had

to do some research to fully grasp the concept of rhetorical analysis. Writing in the genre of

rhetorical analysis was different for me. It was my first time writing a rhetorical analysis. This

was my biggest worry because I did not want to get the format or concept wrong. Rhetorical

situation showed me to know my audience, for this assignment it was my classmates. As I was

trying to show my audience why this advertisement was effective. With backing up claims with

reliable sources.

Writing as a Process

My writing process is always different, I start every assignment differently. Usually the part I

believe to be the easiest, for instance this assignment I started by researching rhetorical elements.

However I found this part to be the hardest as I wasn't able to find too many examples of

rhetorical elements. Finding sources to back up the rhetorical elements and relating it to the

advertisement I picked was also a difficult task. So I did my best to find information related to

my advertisement. Overall, It was a challenge but I liked that it made me think outside the box.

Writing as a Social Act

Writing this paper I was thinking who would benefit from reading this paper. I believe at a local

level, I was trying to share what impact the mezquite market stores have in your community. At

a national level my goal was to demonstrate how an effective advertisement should look like.

This ad was a great example because it got the right message out to the targeted audience. All
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while keeping the audience entertained and present. Internationally, I was trying to reach out to

Mexicans and how their culture is seen and appreciated throughout the United states. Also that it

has a great impact on the people that are surrounded by it.

Self Assessment

Overall I had mixed feelings about this assignment, I liked the assignment and prompt, I was

able to comprehend what I was going to do. However I had trouble in the writing process. When

I was trying to research rhetorical elements, looking for types of elements used in the mezquite

market advertisement. I’m not sure why I wasn't able to find any information on elements. For

the next assignment, the research assignment I will be sure to ask for help while in the research

lab in the library. As the librarians always teach me something new about different forms of

research.