Preliminary Thoughts

           The piece of media that I have chosen to write about is an advertisement sponsored by a hotline in Australia that helps people quit smoking. The advertisement takes place in a busy airport. A very young boy and his mother are walking around and when they arrive at their destination, they stand hand in hand. There is a big rush of people walking in all directions and somehow the boy’s mother disappears in the crowd. After looking around for a while the boy starts to cry out of fear and loneliness. The narrator proceeds to say “If this is how your child feels after losing you for a minute, just imagine if they lost you for life.” The advertisement is moving and heartbreaking to a viewer.

            This advertisement was very stirring and emotional for me. First off, I love children and seeing that little boy all alone in a crowd of adults just made me want to help him immediately, as I’m sure was the point of the producers. Also, one of my best friend’s fathers died from lung cancer so I know this is a serious issue and I agree that people should be informed about it and encouraged to quite smoking.

            While I acknowledge that the advertisement is effective in fulfilling its intent to encourage people to quit smoking, I would also like to cover some ways the ad could have elaborated on the topic to make the advertisement more effective. I plan on exploring some elements of ethos and logos that could have been incorporated into the commercial to make it more persuading. Some statistics could have easily been included and they would have been very valuable for the ad.

            The strongest element of this advertisement is clearly its appeal to pathos. The music, the little boy crying, the feelings of loneliness and abandonment, and the narration all cause a viewer to be overwhelmed with feelings as they watch. The ad makes people want to not only stop quitting, but encourage others to stop quitting. It is all motivated by the fear of losing a loved one, an element that is a common ground for many and the producers took advantage of that. The ad also has an element of ethos because, as I have noticed in my research, this hotline is trusted and popular in Australia. They have many advertisements against smoking that are all heartfelt and touching.

            In order to write this paper I will need to further explore into the details of the advertisement because what I have now won’t fill up five pages. I also need to make arguments about how the ad could have been more effective. I plan on finding statistics that are relevant to the topic and exploring other ads made by this company to discuss the message that they advocate. This paper will really require for me to dig deep and analyze more than the surface aspects of this piece of media.

Why can't all the doors just say "Men" or "Women"?!

            In the article Go Where?: Sex, Gender, and Toilets the author explores and analyzes a variety of washroom signs from all over the globe. She shows how many bathroom signs stereotype gender and the way that the signs set expectations for gender performance. While this is not something an ordinary person would pay notice to on their way in (possibly because they are more concerned on making it to the restroom), it is a plausible study on the way gender is depicted.

            In the article, the author argues that bathrooms are generally separated because of the assumed sexuality of humans, that they will be attracted to the opposite sex. She also argues that this basis for separation characterizes men as predatory towards women that they are attracted to. I think that this may only be the opinion of the author, in her argument that separating bathrooms this way is biased towards heterosexuals. My opinion is that the point in separating by gender is because it is socially unacceptable to use the restroom in the same room as someone of the opposite sex because of the different parts that each possesses. In this case, people would use the same washroom as people of the same sex as them, no matter their sexuality.

            Towards the end of the article, the author shows that in Germany, women are represented by fire and men are represented by water while in Brazil, fire represents men and women are portrayed with a flower. I found this interesting because it shows that these gender stereotypes are not universal. What if someone from Germany was visiting Brazil?

            The author puts a lot of emphasis throughout the essay on the fact that many bathroom signs depict women as a continuation of men. The first example of this, where one door says “wo” and the other says “men” is someone disturbing because I can’t see a reason why the establishment would not just write “women” on the door for girls. This makes the stereotyping seem very intentional, more than most of the others in the article, because it could be easily changed.

            I think the author of the article is a little picky in her criticisms of the way the men’s and women’s washrooms are depicted. My view is that the signs should make the bathrooms distinguishable in some way so a picture of a blue tie for a boy and a pink bow for a girl is acceptable because it is easy for someone to tell which is for either gender. I think the problem develops when the picture is something that can arguably portray both genders.

            Another thing that the author explores is the way bathroom signs portray how men and women are supposed to act. In many cases men the men are buff with wide torsos and the women have pretty wavy hair and lipstick. While these are just common gender expectations, some find them offensive and stereotypical.

            At a restaurant in my home town, when you go in the women’s restroom, the back of the door says “men,” which causes people to think they are in the wrong restroom once they go through the doors. While this is not gender biased, stereotypical, or offensive, it is funny. I’d like to see what the author of Go Where?: Sex, Gender, and Toilets would have to say about that.

Royal Crown Cola Makes You Feel Like NEW!

            This advertisement for Royal Crown Cola symbolizes beauty, fun, and refreshment all in one. It makes the product very appealing to viewers through the aspects of the rhetorical triangle. The advertisement is directed towards a general audience, excluding children, who typically have no interest in golf or attractive women. The person who produced this advertisement definitely had the rhetorical triangle persuasion strategy on his mind when he created it.

The producer appeals to the pathos point of the triangle by portraying lust, friendship, and fun. The beaming, smiling, and merry girl is obviously having a good time while drinking Royal Crown Cola. She appears to be fun loving and attractive, the kind of girl that all men want to have and that all girls want to be. The poster displays friendship because there is another bottle sitting on the table which is obviously for a companion but it is left up to the reader to decide whether it’s a friend, family member, or a mystery date. The golf attire and accessories also symbolize fun, fitness, and social acceptance because golf is commonly described as a social sport. The ad also claims that drinking Royal Crown Cola “makes you feel like new!” This associates a feeling of refreshment with the drink. It enhances the appeal to people who are bored with their lives or want to enjoy new experiences.

As if all that wasn’t persuasive enough, the producers also appealed to the logos part of the triangle. The way that “makes you feel like NEW” is written, emphasizing the “new” by putting it in all uppercase letters makes it sound authoritative and sure. The ad also claims that Royal Crown Cola is “best by taste test.” This is the element of logos because it is supposedly a fact. It also tries to signify that experiments have been done to prove that Royal Crown is the best tasting cola. It’s also persuading because people get the feeling that if other people who have been testing it think it is the best, then you should like it too. The fact that it has been proven “by taste test” also appeals to ethos because it makes it sound like credible information.

In this ad, the pathos appeal is represented the most. The producers obviously try to touch in to peoples’ emotions and make people feel like drinking Royal Crown Cola will show them how to have a good time.  It also tells a viewer that they will be happier with this product, like the girl in the photo, and that it can improve their social life and love life.

            The message in this ad is that everyone should drink Royal Crown Cola because it will “renew” your life. Drinking RC Cola will get you the girl of your dreams and a classy social life. It also persuades viewers that they can never be lonely drinking RC Cola because it represents companionship. I think the message is effective because one is instantly overwhelmed with a euphoric feeling when they see the advertisement. Greek philosopher Aristotle would have agreed with me in saying that the producers of this ad used their rhetoric skills in creating a persuasive advertisement. It integrated all the points of the triangle to convince people that they will be happier drinking Royal Crown Cola. 

How to Say Nothing in 500 Words!

Paul Roberts’ How to Say Nothing in 500 Words is an article I wish a teacher had approached me with on my first day of ninth grade English class. His distinction between what is viewed as useless padding as opposed to essential and informative content to a reader is very revealing. Under the topic “Avoid the Obvious Content” Roberts suggests eliminating every thought that comes to your mind first when brainstorming on how to argue a claim. While this is an unappealing and uncomfortable thought at first, because after you cross out the obvious one is left with nothing to write, it is a good way to dig deeper into your own opinions rather than repeating what everyone else is going to say. Roberts expands this thought by showing more unconventional ways to explore a topic that would be less mundane to a reader. This method seemed daring to me at first but it made me realize how much I failed to eliminate stale content in previous papers. Another thing that the piece drew to my attention is how obvious some of the padding is that I commonly incorporated into my papers, sometimes without realizing it. One part of the essay that will be useful to me in the future is the section entitled “Call a Fool a Fool.” Previously I would be one to dart around the truth if I had wanted to call my high school principal a fool but Roberts says to just do it. Reading this section of the article brought to my attention how much more powerful it is to blatantly speak your opinion instead of beating around the bush in an attempt to be modest.  

The section on how to use colorful and colored words will also be very helpful in my future writing. I didn’t realize previously that there was a difference between the two, but now I can utilize this type of language to enhance a basic sentence into one full of words that stimulate the senses and trigger emotions. Roberts’ two simple examples, the transformation of “Her heart beat” and “It was hot”, were enough to influence my writing style. Never again will I leave a sentence emotionless and bland. The section really emphasized how much potential there can be in any bare statement. Roberts also extended the topic by showing the opposite side of the argument and revealing how distasteful “colorless” words can be to a reader.

I enjoyed reading Roberts’ How to Say Nothing in 500 words and appreciate his approach on the subject. Rather than monotonously covering the topic he wrote an interesting but effective piece.  The essay brought to my attention many of my writing flaws but it also gave me confidence in knowing that I am not alone in making these mistakes and that there are many solutions to make my writing more appealing. I plan on referring back to Roberts’ essay before composing many future papers.

Until next time, Amira