Apple Vegas Rhetorical Analysis

Tayler Gernert

ENGL 393-08

March 8, 2023
 Tayler Gernert
ENGL 393-08
Rhetorical Analysis
In the fabulous city of Las Vegas, there are many advertisements and billboards on and

near the strip. The major tech company Apple placed a billboard on the Marriott Spring Hills

Suites, which is located close to the convention center, in 2019 right before the Consumer

Electronics Show (CES) occurred that year. And their message was all about privacy. After all

many people value privacy and want to keep things to themselves. The message is a simple nod

to the saying “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” by stating “What happens on your phone

stays on your phone.”

Looking into who this advertisement is specifically targeting is sort of broad. The

billboard is trying to reach people who live in Las Vegas or are visiting the city during this period

of time that the billboard is up. Of course, they would see it and maybe take note that Apple

cares about the privacy of its users. But upon a closer look at the time the billboard went up and

that was before a big tech event. This was directly trying to reach people who were going to the

convention center for CES in hopes that their message on privacy would reach that specific

group of people and influence them to buy Apple products or continue to buy them. Some people

may not like this move Apple made especially people who are their competitors or may feel like

this move of advertising privacy on their devices, which should be a basic feature, is useless or

crass.

This is an unusual move made by the tech giant, Apple advertises and interacts with their

user base in different ways. While it is in their usual style of advertising with simple one-color

background, this time it is a black background, with easy-to-read text that stands out against the

background. The text is simple and easy to understand. There are not too many words just simply

stating “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” Then, gives a link directly to their

page about the privacy features they offer and their privacy policy. And a simple white outline of
 Tayler Gernert
ENGL 393-08
Rhetorical Analysis
an iPhone near the text, it is simple and straight to the point with their messaging. This billboard

draws your attention to their privacy features and what product they sell that mainly has those

features, which in early 2019 was the iPhone X. Apple is using the location to their advantage in

this case.

The location is a big deal for this billboard because one of the most common cliches said

about Las Vegas is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” it is many pieces of media and even

in the common vernacular. Apple took the opportunity of getting a billboard in Vegas and used

that slogan to advertise. You can not use that slogan every day unless you live in Vegas, and you

definitely cannot put a billboard with that phrase in Times Square and it have the same effect.

The kairos of the billboard going up itself is also timed extremely well. Being up during CES,

which is held in Vegas annually, where people are there to talk about and see electronics. Where

something about privacy would come up and maybe due to seeing the billboard outside people

would talk about their company.

Apple is a well-known corporation worldwide that is worth billions of dollars. Their

main product is electronics. They are a tech giant always trying to have the next best thing to

gain more users. This has varied from some very well-loved moves in their technology; better

cameras, longer battery life, and even wireless charging; and not-so-well-liked ideas; no more

aux port, changing types of chargers, removing the home button. During these changes, they also

added and changed up their privacy features. Switching from just a four-digit pin to a six-digit

pin, then adding on Touch Id, then entirely removing Touch ID for Face ID. And with the iPhone

X being released in late 2018 and is the first to have Face ID, it makes sense why Apple would

want to advertise the product as much as possible.

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Rhetorical Analysis
These privacy features being advertised are nothing to laugh at and Apple takes on a very

serious tone within the billboard. The colors used and the messaging about privacy, in general,

give a very assertive and serious feel. This creates a strong, clear, and factual message. You

cannot deny is privacy is no laughing matter and is something a consumer should consider when

buying technology. On the other hand, the actual words on the billboard, besides the link, feel

very light-hearted and joking. As if they are trying to make light of something very serious. They

are doing a play on words and joking about their location while putting out their statement on

privacy. Apple mixing both a serious message with a jokey play on words makes the billboard

feel balanced out. They want people to see this billboard and connect to it but also think of them

and their new and improved privacy features.

Overall, this billboard is trying to make people feel a major urge to buy something. Apple

is not trying to make a statement on society or social issues. Apple as a company is trying to

grow their user base by making a statement of they have the latest and the greatest privacy

features in their new device. How many people did it convince to go out and buy the iPhone X is

not something tangible that can be proved. But the billboard can easily be said to have put Apple

as a company on their mind. Maybe it could have reminded them they could upgrade their phone

or it sparked a conversation about how they might prefer a different brand. Either way, it made

people think of them and maybe people felt the urge to look into the new product, maybe to

compare to an old phone or competitors. This ad while at first glance seems a bit confusing it

does get the whole message across that Apple is trying to send to a very large audience.