Rhetorical Analysis Draft, Axe Peace: Make Love Not War

 Everyone knows the classic representation of a manly man: tall, handsome, muscular, dark hair, facial hair, etc. but there is more to it than just physical features. It includes the clothes he wears, how he stands, the look on his face, whether or not the man has a sense of power that one can see radiating from his body. When products are being sold to men the company selling them will usually use this classic representation to do so. Axe’s Make Love Not War Campaign is no different in this aspect. However in this specific advertisement the company takes a new approach in the way the man acts toward his significant other in a time of struggle (in this ad being war). Instead of having the man not care about his woman when there is something as grave as a war going on the man chooses to put his woman first and promote peace instead of violence.

            Axe’s Peace commercial defies the normal thinking about men during wartime. The ad has a strong emotional appeal involved with it, which draws the viewer into the story behind the commercial and hooks them in all together. The ad uses pathos in order to try and get the viewer to care about the people in the ad and make them believe in the slogan “Make Love Not War”. The ad opens up with eerie music that you would find in an important scene of a movie. This serves the purpose of setting the mood for the advertisement; it creates the feeling of a tense situation. The ad then shows clips of numerous wartime situations in which either a soldier or leader is in a tough situation. War is a very touchy subject that generates emotion through its mere mention. When the viewer is shown these strong men who are choosing to put down their weapons and fight for their loved ones instead of against the opposition it sends a very powerful message. For a man to promote peace and love this goes against the normal view that a man should always be tough and fighting but in this ad he is fighting for his woman instead of his country.

There is a lot of historical significance behind the ad that serves to add to the pathos. The different wartime situations in the advertisement can each be related to a real war that our country has had to face in the past hundred years or so. In the opening scene a Middle Eastern man is caring a very important looking briefcase followed by body guards, he flips it open and inside is a large red button which seems as if pressed will fire a large missile or something of that nature. This can be related to the war in Iraq where we believed the country was holding many weapons of mass destruction to be used against the United States. Another scenario played out in this ad is a helicopter landing in a jungle like environment. A man steps out of the helicopter over the noise of the blades cutting the wind holding a large assault rifle. He goes to meet an attractive Asian woman who has come to meet him in the middle of what looks to be her rice field. This can be related to the war in Vietnam where the United States invaded the country in helicopters with large assault rifles to fight, just as the ad has shown. The purpose of creating realistic situations that have historical significance is to bring emotion into the mix of the ad. These events were very real and many good men lost their lives to fight for their country in them.

Where the ad goes about things differently is where instead of having the man only worried about the war the man focuses on the woman. In the instance of the man climbing out of the helicopter with his assault rifle as he meets the Asian woman he throws his gun on the ground and embraces her with a very passionate kiss. Basically saying forget fighting, all I care about is you. The other example where the middle eastern man presses the large red button as he is sitting on a couch with what looks to be his wife or girlfriend instead of a large bomb or missile going off, the red button shoots fireworks into the air to create a romantic situation for a man and his wife. These two different scenarios reinforce the mission statement of the ad, “Make Love Not War” and defy the normal views of society and tell the viewer that even in a time of war your woman should always come first. This portion of the ad appeals to logos, it is saying that if you wear Axe Peace you will have the confidence to go against society norms and make bold moves to try and earn the love of the ones you truly care about.

 

Concluding Paragraph

 

2 responses to “Rhetorical Analysis Draft, Axe Peace: Make Love Not War

  1. Pingback: AXE PEACE | Make Love, Not War – Business Ideas Videos

  2. 1. Identify the writer’s main claim about the rhetoric, ideology or and subtext of the piece. That is is ironic that men, who are usually shows as very powerful, are turning to love instead of fighting. In addition, that love is the strongest force and we need to fight with love and peace and not weapons.

    2. Identify and comment on the writer’s introduction of a context (rhetorical situation) for this piece of rhetoric (think of the Starbucks and Cheetos paper) Name one thing that might be added, deleted, changed, or moved.
    Introduction is clear and funnel shaped. I like how you start out with the description of the typical ideal man and move onto how the ad takes this man to represent something of more importance, “make love not war.” I do feel however that you give to much summary of the ad in your introduction and your body paragraphs. You want to show not tell they audience what the ad does well.
    3. Warning flags: check any of the following predominant themes this paper contains that might suggest a weak introduction or thesis:
    No warning flags!

    4. Find a strong analytical topic sentence and a weak one. Explain why you have identified them as such.
    Strong: There is a lot of historical significance behind the ad that serves to add to the pathos. I picked this one as your strongest topic sentence because you immediately tell your reader that the following information is going to be talking about pathos (you might want to add in a little something about what exactly pathos is).
    Weak: Axe’s Peace commercial defies the normal thinking about men during wartime. I feel as though this sentence could be worded better it feel a little awkward. It is still a topic sentence, but it needs to be reworded.

    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 think that if you make your thesis statement a little clearly and more structured it would help you with the structure on your paragraphs so far you have done a good job talking about everything you talked about in your introduction but I can’t point out exactly what your thesis is saying. In addition, make sure your not just describing what you see in the ad, I know it helps the reader understand whats going on, but I felt like it took away from your analytical points.

    6. You wanted to read more about….
    Want to read more about your analytical viewpoints of the advertisement. Maybe use some quotes about pathos and how the advertisement demonstrates that in their ad.

Leave a Reply