Commonplaces in Advertisements

Possibly one of the most used commonplaces in advertisements is the use of a character. Flo from Progressive, Tony the Tiger, the Fantanas, and Jake from Statefarm are examples of popular characters used in advertising and commercials. The use of these characters in advertising and commercials gives a company a recognizable factor that causes consumers to associate the character with the brand. The use of characters can also persuade audiences to buy their product in a number of ways, for example Tony the Tiger, the character associated with Frosted Flakes cereal, is shown in commercials playing sports with children and depicts the idea that if you eat Frosted Flakes you’ll have fun too like they advertise. Associating the character with having fun and playing will motivate children to want to buy Frosted Flakes. Compared to adults, restaurants like Hooters and Carls Jr. uses attractive women to attract people because they think they will see these women if they go there. Another commonplace in advertisements is the use of celebrities. An example of this is Selena Gomez in Pantene commercials, Selena Gomez is known for her amazing hair and if people see she uses Pantene they will buy it in hopes of having their hair look the same. The concept of “influencers” has recently become very popular, so if their followers see them promoting a certain product they will feel almost inclined to purchase it because if a celebrity is using a certain product it must be good. Sugarbear Hair gummies is possibly one of the most promoted products, celebrities like Kylie Jenner promote this product which influences millions of people to purchase it. As a result these people also promote the product, whether its online or in person, leading to more sales. The use of celebrities promoting products is the current most effective way of persuading people to purchase them.

Kairos

Kairos, by definition, suggests an advantageous time or an “exact or critical time, season, opportunity”. Kairos can be anything from a long period of time to a short moment in which there is opportunity. Over time people, business, and government have used kairos as a powerful element in their rhetorical situations to motivate people to take action. More recently companies have used kairos and taken advantage of social situations, like Pepsi’s ad featuring Kendall Jenner that used protests to promote their product, which ultimately backfired because it was seen as negligent to the purpose of the protests and important social issues. However, this is not always the case. Throughout history there have been civic artifacts that have taken advantage of situations that have proven to be effective. The iconic Uncle Same “I Want You” posters from World War I and II took advantage of the US’s involvement in the war and motivated American’s to fight and participate in the war effort.

This was propaganda by the US government to help recruit soldiers and people wanted to because they felt it was their duty as Americans, it was almost like Uncle Sam was asking them himself to fight for their freedom. Not many people were jumping up to join the army, but once these advertisements came out thousands of men and women rushed to join the army or work as nurses and help in any way they could. The US government used the war and called upon all Americans to sacrifice certain things to further the national agenda. These posters were designed to provide people with a positive outlook on the future of the country, as well as instill a sense of patriotism. This is one of the most effective civic artifacts in history because it took advantage of a critical situation at specific points in time and banded a whole nation together to fight and join the war effort.

Versace Pre-Fall Campaign

High end fashion brands hold individuals to a higher standard

In advertisements high fashion labels like Gucci, Chanel, and Versace display this and make people desire a high-end lifestyle. In the Versace Pre-Fall Campaign, it shows the aftermath of a large, wild party full of Versace new season items. Depicting this image causes people to associate brands like Versace with a luxurious, extravagant lifestyle. And transports people into the reality and lifestyle of the ultra-wealthy and top model party girls.

Essentially, brands like this flaunt this sort of lifestyle in their advertisements to encourage average people to buy their products because they too can live this typically unattainable life and create the image that this is what their life will be like if they buy Versace.

This pushes the desire and hope for the life of a careless party girl who can have fun and do whatever she wants with no worries, thanks to Versace. This holds consumers to a higher standard because it makes them feel like if they own or want to own a brand like Versace, they must also live a life of luxury.

They play into our emotions and desires using pathos and use top models to appear to actually live this lifestyle to present it, playing into ethos. They tend to stray from logos because they know this is not an easily attainable lifestyle and its not reasonable for most people.

This is comparable to most high fashion advertisements like the Jimmy Choo Cruise 2018 Campaign that shows high fashion models going out, shopping, and having fun basking in their wealth.

Why do high fashion advertisements constantly depict this lifestyle? Why do they play into the idea of luxury and almost unattainable wealth?