Hounding for Some Rhetoric

With the Michigan Blood Challenge coming to a close, I’d though I might as well get a shameless plug in along with my RCL blog.

With the endless fliers and posters traversing through the HUB and throughout campus, how does one stand out? I’ve found that rhetoric that goes the extra mile makes me pay attention to the message more.

So…what qualifies as “going the extra mile”?

I distinctly remember one time I was walking up the HUB stairs, and the guy passing out fliers said “Excuse me miss, can you throw this out for me?”

In this case, humor won out. He got me to smile, and I took the flyer.

Getting people the smile is the key. When you smile at something you see, it’s fail-proof sign you’ve at least acknowledged what you’ve seen. You may not wish to buy the product or take the flyer, but your smile indicates that you, at the very least, have seen the message.

So yes, that’s me in the Blood Hound costume.

And look! Someone took a picture with me. Through pure exposure of me walking/dancing around as an unrecognizable dog, I brought attention to the ongoing blood drive. I not only received several high-fives but was asked to pose in a couple pictures as well.

Note: It was freezing out that day, so the suit was actually quite cozy.

So what makes parading around in a costume such successful rhetoric? I’m guessing it’s the fact that it’s definitely not something you see everyday.

Flyers in the HUB, what else is new? Booths and tables outside, how commonplace!

And then you see it, a loveable, human-sized dog! It’s something different, new, and appealing.

So while you’re very likely to look at the costume and possibly smile, the people implanting the rhetoric still want to be sure their specific message is retained. I wasn’t out there waving to people alone. I was paired with a girl who yes, was handing out fliers, but also was giving information about the blood drive.

The initial draw-in (me in my obviously attractive dog costume) + Accurate information = effective rhetoric.