Oct
2014
Rhetorical Analysis Rough Draft
Selling Skinny: A Rhetorical Analysis of Diet Pepsi’s Skinny Can Campaign
In a society where being thin is the latest fashion statement, advertisers have established an important marketing strategy: skinny sells. Many people, most noticeably women, are influenced daily by the media which is where societal ideals of beauty mostly stem from. Every day, people are bombarded with images of stick thin actresses, singers, and models that have become the conceptual image of what is an ideal appearance for women in America. However, these standards are unrealistic. Of course dieting and living a healthy lifestyle can lead a woman to slim down a bit, but she cannot change her genetics. Therefore women with naturally curvy body figures are forced to feel both self-loathing and ashamed about their own appearances. Thus, when advertisement campaigns such as Pepsi’s new skinny can are released, this body image issue is further intensified. They are manipulating woman’s insecurities in order to make a profit, but at what cost? In a country where the rate of eating disorders have continually been on the rise since 1950, advertising “skinny” can not only be unethical, but also lethal (Hudson et al., 2007; Streigel-Moore &Franko, 2003; Wade et al., 2011). After all, studies have confirmed that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielsen, 2011). So even though this skinny can campaign does not seem like a big deal, its focus on advertising by making women strive for a stereotypical and unhealthy body shape has had a detrimental effect on the female population.
The advertisement is comprised of three main elements: the woman drinking the soda, the can, and the tagline “the new skinny can.” What has caused the most controversy over this ad is the tagline. Some backstory is that PepsiCo Inc. presented this new can at New York’s Fashion Week in 2011, saying that it was made in “celebration of beautiful, confident women,” (Skidmore). This seems to imply that being skinny goes hand in hand with being a “beautiful, confident wom[an]” such as the one pictured. It was not long until it was met with harsh criticism. One such complaint was made by The National Eating Disorders Association that claimed that the campaign was offensive and said the company’s comments are both “thoughtless and irresponsible,” (Skidmore). Jill Beraud, PepsiCo’s chief marketer, claims that this is not was intended and that “Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today’s most stylish looks,” (Skidmore). Does that mean that today’s most stylish look, is skinny? Why else would it be mentioned that the can is slim along with attractive and stylish? PepsiCo is clearly trying to relate woman’s obsession over thinness and this Pepsi can in order to promote sales.
The woman pictured actually is famous actress Sofia Vergaro, the actress who plays the feisty Latina, Gloria, on the comedy Modern Family. Vergaro generally is not thought of as the stereotypical skinny woman because of her busty and curvy appearance, yet in this ad she seems tiny. Her body is placed at an awkward angle and there are shadows placed strategically, in order to give her the appearance of having small arms. Her face even looks very slim due to the coloring of her makeup, and the large sunhat engulfs her head to make it look even smaller in comparison. This version of Vergaro looks so differently than how she is normally seen, that rumors began to spread that she was digitally slimmed down. Vergaro had to publicly announce “’That is not true at all… It was just a different way of dressing me,” (Abraham). That may be true, but everything about the actress was done in order to make her look like an appealing woman that other woman would envy. She is skinny, but she also has flawless skin and a ski-slope nose. Her big lips are painted bright red, drawing attention to her sucking on the straw. She is looking forward confidently and with empowerment. In essence, she is what American women strive to be. Subconsciously, viewers will associate the perfection of Sofia Vergara with this Diet Pepsi, and subsequently want to buy it.
Blue is the primary color of this ad, embossing the background and Vergara’s whole outfit. While this may seem like a simple color choice, this scheme was not left up to choice. Many people know that blue causes calmness and relaxation in people, but it also is known for quenching appetite. Food researchers have stated that when humans searched for food, they learned to avoid toxic or spoiled objects, which were often blue, black, or purple. Later studies have proven that when food was died blue, people found it to be less appealing,” (Johnson). This is not a coincidence, but yet another subtle way of “selling skinny.” Everything about this ad was planned to make people not want to eat, and instead drink this beverage. The laughable irony is of course, is that soda, will cause weight gain. Many people turn to diet sodas thinking that they will not gain weight, but this does not seem to be the case. Researchers have proven that “It contains artificial sweeteners that, many times, can actually force you to crave more soda. If that occurs, you’re likely to drink more soda and, as a result, take in more calories than you really should,” (Fox). Yet, these sugary soda substitutions are still sold by the million a day. Why? It is because women who are plagued by the constant pressure of meeting society’s aesthetic standards are desperate to believe anything that tells them a way to be skinny. This is illustrated by the purchases of diet pills and use of crash diets, both of which have been proven to be essentially ineffective and sometimes even dangerous. However, America’s continual and growing use of both of these methods of weight loss show our society’s infatuation with how much we weigh.
Pepsi isn’t the first company to use skinniness to sell their product, it’s just one of the more blatant examples. The usage of anorexic-esque models to sell clothing has been an advertising strategy since the 1960’s. As these ads continue to be printed in magazines or commercials appear on the television, the rate of eating disorders continues to dramatically rise. This epidemic will not slow until society begins to stop idolizing skinniness. However, this cannot be a reality until markets cease to “sell skinny.”
Works Cited
Abraham, Tamara. “‘Pepsi Did NOT Slim Me Down’: Curvy Sofia Vergara Defends Controversial Ad for ‘skinny’ New Diet Soda Can.” Dailymail. N.p., 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1365385/Pepsi-did-NOT-slim-Curvy-Sofia-Vergara-defends-controversial-ad-skinny-new-diet-soda-can.html>.
Fox, Maggie. “How Can Diet Sodas Make You Fat? Study May Explain It.” NBC News. N.p., 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nbcnews.com/health/diet-fitness/how-can-diet-sodas-make-you-fat-study-may-explain-n205406>.
Johnson, David. “Color Psychology.” Infoplease. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html>.
Skidmore, Sarah. “Diet Pepsi ‘skinny’ Can Stirs up Big Controversy.” AP Online. N.p., 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-a1ffbe442cd24e6697d4b3c9432f39e0.html?refid=easy_hf>.
5 Comments on Rhetorical Analysis Rough Draft
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jjh5589
October 12, 2014 at 7:56 pm (10 years ago)1. Identify the writer’s main claim about the rhetoric, ideology or and subtext of the piece.
The main theme was identifying how the ad used the social idea beauty and “skinny” to sell their product.
2. Identify and comment on the writer’s introduction of a context (rhetorical situation) for this piece of rhetoric. Name one thing that might be added, deleted, changed, or moved.
Your into was very detailed, explaining the background of societies view of skinny in our world today. You included the background of why Pepsi would want to use this view also, it set the readers up to want to learn more.
3. Warning flags: check any of the following predominant themes this paper contains that might suggest a weak introduction or thesis:
There were not any weaknesses to the intro or thesis statement that jumped out to me.
4. Find a strong analytical topic sentence and a weak one. Explain why you have identified them as such.
Weak: “Blue is the primary color of this ad, embossing the background and Vergara’s whole outfit.”
I love the paragraph and the interesting reason that you brought up. However, I just think you could come up with a more interesting way to draw readers attention to this important discovery.
Strong: “The advertisement is comprised of three main elements: the woman drinking the soda, the can, and the tagline “the new skinny can.” ”
I see this as strong because you clearly identify the evidence behind your theory. It sets the audience up so that they know what they are going to expect.
5. Comment on the organization of the piece. What other possible arrangement strategies might make more of the material and develop arguments more fully?
I would just try to make your topic sentences a little more interesting to catch the readers attention.
6. You wanted to read more about….
I would like to know more about how successful the can was in selling because I haven’t seen much of the where I grew up. If not, maybe the use of advertising “skinny” didn’t end up working.
Kavya Vaseekaran
October 11, 2014 at 12:50 pm (10 years ago)1. The main claim is the fact that the advertising strategy, “Skinny Sells,” in the Pepsi Skinny Ad have an extremely negative impact on the female population, by intensifying the issue of body image.
2. Solid intro- you did a great job of providing background context on the ethics of “selling skinny” and what the ideal image of beauty is in today’s society. In my opinion, it is a little difficult to pick out your thesis sentence in the intro paragraph. I would suggest that you introduce your argument in the first paragraph by briefly addressing your main support points.
3. I really liked the diction and word choice you utilized in your essay! I could not find any repetitive statements that make your paper weaker.
4. I think the paragraph on Sophia Vergaro was strong rhetorically, because you fully analyzed Sophia Vergaro’s body image in the ad and how it was altered in order to persuade viewers to buy the product. The shape of the can seems to play an extremely huge role in advertising the product; however, your analysis on it is rhetorically weak compared to the other points you make. I would recommend providing more in-depth evaluation of how the shape of the can impacts the audience.
5. For the most part, the organization of your paper is good and your essay is easy to follow! As mentioned before, I would try making the thesis clearer in your intro paragraph, and I would suggest that you talk about the importance of the color blue earlier on, perhaps in the 1st or 2nd body paragraph, because that appears to be an extremely significant claim/point.
6. I would like to read more about how successful the advertising campaign really was.
Zeke Cook
October 10, 2014 at 1:56 pm (10 years ago)1. The main claim that the advertisement uses the classic “skinny sells” tendency to advertise and its generally negative impact on female populations is well established immediately.
2. The introduction of context was sound, but it does seem like the actual dimensions of the can speak volumes to the purpose of the ad. Comment more on the importance of the shape of the can.
3. None of the given weaknesses jumped out at me.
4. Strong topic sentence: While this may seem like a simple color choice, this scheme was not left up to choice. Many people know that blue causes calmness and relaxation in people, but it also is known for quenching appetite.
Weaker: I would somehow recombine the rhetorical questions at the end of paragraph. Back-to-back rhetorical sentences of that length seem to lose impact.
5. I would try to introduce the color of the ad earlier on.
6. I might also mention the correlation between metabolic derangement and diet soda. This actually makes people gain weight when they drink diet soda due to an induced non-efficacious metabolism.
bor5034
October 9, 2014 at 5:07 pm (10 years ago)1. The ad persuades readers to buy the product by giving false promises that it will make them “Skinny” like the can.
2. The introduction is how we leave in a world where skinny sells and is viewed as true beauty. Something that I would take out however are the two citation sentences in the first paragraph; I feel that they take away from the rhetoric focus of the paper
3. You use a lot of “Life isn’t like what the ad proclaims” references
4. I feel that your second body sentence paragraph is solid as it sets the stage for how you are going to analyze the fact that the women is curvy yet appears skinny. However in contrast your third body paragraph topic sentence is very vague and I feel need more analysis of blue to start the paragraph.
5. Organization is very solid. Only thing you might want to change is make the introduction simply about the ad and then cut out the “in context” ideas you put into the intro and instead put them in a new second paragraph.
6. I wanted to read more about the tag line and the analysis of that.
Natalie Morrissey
October 9, 2014 at 5:05 pm (10 years ago)1. Good focus on the subtext of the ad and analyzing every part of it that represents “skinny.” Also well warranted with evidence.
2. In your analysis, you say that one of the main elements is how the can itself is skinny, but you never really analyze that. However, you do talk about the color blue, which is actually very important in this ad. You could replace that in the first sentence of paragraph 2.
3. I didn’t notice any repeated/bland phrases; good word choice!
4. Strong analytical sentence- evidence of the effects of the color blue on appetite
Weak analytical sentence- you didn’t really have any, but the questions at the end of paragraph 2 may be phrased better as statements.
5. I couldn’t tell for sure which statement your thesis was -try to include your supporting reasons in your statement so that the reader is prepared for the aspects of the poster you are going to analyze.
6. One thing I would like to read more about was if this skinny can was ever actually produced and if so, how much it sold
Overall really good! Very good use of sources and well written