Logical Appeals in a Bumper Sticker

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Fig. 1 “Vaccines Cause Adults” Bumper Sticker

This bumper sticker may show a very short phrase, but it actually contains a hidden logos appeal towards the societal issue of vaccinations. The sentence states “vaccines cause adults” which is a slightly strange statement to be saying by itself, but it causes the reader to think about the true meaning of the sentence, and this is when the logos appeal jumps out. This sentence is implying through logic that those who get vaccinated will be able to live towards adulthood, and those who do not get vaccinated may not live very long.

The current ideology in our society is that vaccines are a good thing, and the commonplace is to start getting vaccinated at a very young age, but recently that ideology has been challenged by the anti-vax movement. This bumper sticker is attempting to fight that opposing ideology by using the logical persuasion of not living due to being unvaccinated to convince people that the dominant ideology is what is actually true. By using the phrase “vaccines cause”, the designer is trying to play on the fact that many arguments from the anti-vax side of the debate often use this phrase as a negative thing. They are trying to create a logical connection between vaccines and living a long life.

I do not think that this bumper sticker will have much of an effect other than reassuring pro-vaccine people that others support their view. This short statement most likely will have any effect on those who strongly oppose vaccines. The designer of this bumper sticker was trying to convince people that vaccines will help guarantee their survival to adulthood, but this is ignoring a few key facts that make this logos appeal seem a little weak. Getting vaccinated is not a guarantee to live a long life, and not all of the people who do not get vaccinated die early, but they do have an increased chance. This bumper sticker attempted to use a logos appeal but did not do so as effectively as it could have due to the logical argument having a few flaws.

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