RCL3: Persuasive Appeals in Cheerios Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLAYkUHnvWw 

In this Cheerios commercial, a father tells his daughter, Gracie, that she is soon to have a little brother. He uses three cheerios to represent their family, adding in a fourth for the new baby. Gracie then puts a fifth cheerio down, adding a puppy to their family. It is the definition of short and sweet, pulling at the audience’s heartstrings without being too heavy. Cheerios has made a series of similar commercials focused on families, all of which are pretty heartwarming.  

Pathos is the most present persuasive appeal in this video. There is not really a message to the video, instead they rely on a cute main character and story to make their advertisement effective. There is slight product placement, although it is not the focus of the video. While on the surface it seems a little counterintuitive to avoid mentioning your product in a commercial, it is actually what makes this advertisement so effective. Product-focused often struggle to grab an audience’s attention. This would especially be true for Cheerios, as it’s a bland product. However, the use of pathos in the storyline make this video quite memorable. In fact, I thought of this video almost right away because I remembered thinking it was cute.  While thinking something is cute is not the same as being convinced they are selling a good product, the viewer will be conditioned to associate the heartwarming feeling with Cheerios after seeing the video a few times. This is especially useful for a product like Cheerios. Almost everyone already has tried, or at least heard of Cheerios in their lifetime. Since they are so well known, there is no need for them to try to convince the audience to they have a good product. Instead, the purpose of the advertisements seems to be to remind viewers that they exist.  

While the commercial lacks both logos and ethos, they are not missed. Adding elements that are too logical or worldly would have run the risk of taking away from the feel-goodness of the video. Personally, if I’m choosing to watch tv, I’m doing so to relax, not think of anything too complex.  

Overall, the commercial does a good job of persuading the audience. It strikes a nice balance between advertising and entertaining. Pathos is an appropriate choice of appeal; the use of a family could make some viewers nostalgic for their own childhood spent eating Cheerios (Cheerios seem to be a food people eat a lot when they’re young and not as much as they get older). For such a short commercial, it goes in-depth with pathos and does a great job of striking a chord with the audience.