Rhetoric Advertising

Rossolatos, George (2013). Rhetoric is defined as an artful deviation relative to audience expectation and it is assumed to create pleasure in processing. According to McQuarrie and Mick, ads containing rhetorical figures will produce a more favorable brand attitude toward the ad. This suggests that using rhetoric as a device through advertising is extremely successful, as this will incline people to associate themselves with their products, leading to greater revenue for Adidas.

Above is a print advertisement, which I have created for the brand Adidas. The unique selling point of the above brand is the aesthetics of the product as they focus on the styling and comfort of the attire they produce. There is also a slogan utilized by the brand across both television and print advertisements that is ‘impossible is nothing’, metathesis is employed by switching the words to produce a much more powerful statement suggesting in fact that nothing is impossible. I have chosen to include this within the print ad above as there was a strong belief in the media regarding that the previous 100m world record set by Usain Bolt would never be beaten and that it was an impossible feet. Through the use of irony as a rhetorical device depicted in Bolt’s almost mockery-like statement it conjoins with the slogan of Adidas to contrast claims that something may be impossible, also evoking feelings of self-improvement and challenge in the sporting world. This pattern can also be seen in the use of repetition of the word impossible to show how it is merely just a word, and can be defied by Bolt and by the Adidas consumers to achieve anything.

Substitution states something different to what is shown and relies on the recipient to correct this. Rossolatos, George (2013). Within my print advertisement I have used the substation approach through the use of irony, which I highlighted previously.  

Pathos, which is an aspect of rhetoric, is also used within this advertisement through the use of the visual aid of the body language from Bolt. His stance and facial expression depicts happiness and pleasure in his success and ability to overcome what ‘they said’. His signature pose can be noticed as a pose of success and self-gain, which in turn could link to the viewer as they may affiliate a link between being successful and Adidas products, which could increase the sale of Adidas products.

References:

Rossolatos, George (2013). Brand Equity Planning with Structuralist Rhetorical Semiotics. Germany : Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. p115.