1. Some people like to talk about introductions as “funnels”–you start “broad,” and narrow down to the specific claim. Well, okay, but you can’t spell funnel without “fun.” You want to make your funnel more interesting than, say, “Ads have existed for years” or “Advertising is everywhere.” If your first sentence makes me want to say, “Well, duh?” it’s not good. Rather than starting with the dawn of time, you want to come in at an angle, so to speak. You don’t merely want to talk about the fact that the ad exists. You want to think about the cultural moment (or kairos), the rhetorical situation, or the ideas at work that undergird the ad’s premises and appeals. Brainstorm interesting ways to start your paper here by:
Listing some commonplaces your ad draws upon: To today’s generation of teenagers, texting and driving is become somewhat ordinary.
Considering the rhetorical situation or the cultural moment: The campaign mainly uses pathos to grab the audience. Watching the boy struggle to speak and put his sweater on gives a real life example of what the consequences of texting and driving can be. It brings the audience to a sense of reality.
Comparing it to other campaigns or ways of advertising: It’s not the ordinary campaign, that will use humor, sarcasm, or unrealistic ploys to catch the audience’s attention.
2. Getting the thesis to be properly analytical is probably the hardest part of the paper. Initially, it’s helpful to try to formulate your thesis like this. Try three different versions of this.
By drawing upon __________, [Advertising campaign] does what? (the answer has to be more complicated than “appeals to its customers”)
Speculating on the “No Text is Worth Brain Damage” campaign, the audience is brought to a sense of realism based on the narrator’s own experiences and well-being due to a careless driver who sent a text that could’ve waited.
^^Something like that!
3. Consider how you will paragraph your paper. What will each paragraph be about. List them here.
Introduction
1st paragraph – open up by asking the reader if she/he has ever texted while driving, admit to it myself, description of commercial and how we don’t realize the devastating effects of texting and driving, how commercial is unlike others
2nd paragraph – strong pathos (told his story, spoke simply, proving the point of the commercial without having the narrator (victim) try)
3rd paragraph – also appeals to ethos (believablility) and logos (statement of “no text is worth seriours brain damage” is obvious, but no one realizes and/or listens to it unless they see the effects it can cause)
conclusion – tie everything up
4. Sometimes it’s helpful to make your paper more comparative in nature. Even if you don’t include the other campaigns or strategies in your actual paper, it’s useful to consider them just to generate ideas about how your ad or campaign is distinctive. Think about what other ads do or don’t do here. You might think about: What commonplaces to they work with compared to your campaign? What images or aesthetics drive them? How do they engage ethos, irony, humor?
It doesn’t use humor, sarcasm, or unrealistic ploys such as something like “use this skin product and look like Megan Fox.” Most commercials are uplifting, cheerful, or funny. Not many ads tend to be as upsetting as one like this. Appealing to the audience’s emotions of grief, grabs their attention to just how devasting the consequences of texting and driving can be. The commercial is especially credible due to the fact that the narrator is a victim of it. (ethos)