Rhetorical Analysis 1: Advertisement

Below is an advertisement for Dove’s new Anti-Frizz Cream. The claim being presented is that this product will “turn unruly hair into foxy momma hair,” changing your overall image. The implied reason is that, by applying the product, your frizzy up-tight hair will be transformed  into flowing, modern, luscious locks. The audience is women, probably in the young adult to middle-aged range, but more specifically, the audience is women who watch, or are familiar with, The Simpsons. The goal of this advertisement is to entice the audience to buy the product. To make this argument the advertisement appeals to the audience’s ethos and pathos. Marge Simpson is a popular, widely-known figure, and one very unique thing about Marge is her crazy beehive hair style. The fact that Marge is the center of this ad lends to its credibility because of her fame. As a result of the audience’s previous knowledge of Marge’s personality and crazy hair, the ad becomes comical, appealing to the audience’s pathos. This ad is also humorous because it is an accurate depiction of Marge, and how she would react to this situation. As an occasional Simpsons viewer, I can interpret Marge’s facial expressions, and hear in my mind Marge’s voice as she decides to use the product and then is very satisfied by it. I think that this advertisement is very effective. It has sufficient information, and it successfully appeals to the target audience.