Recently, Capital One released a new commercial in which they used pop sensation Taylor Swift to sell their Savor Card. Using Swift in their commercial, as well as the layout of her actions, is a perfect example of a pop culture use of Kairos.
In the short commercial, viewers watch as Taylor Swift plays various roles different from her typical pop-star identity. She makes mistakes as a bartender, and is a goofy waitress at a diner. While Swift acts out her roles, text pops up across the screen making puns connecting her mistakes to her previous hit singles. For example, while Swift is acting as a bartender, she spills the drink everywhere while mixing it in a shaker; Capital One then put “4% to shake it off” across the screen. These endearing moments, being acted out by a lovable celebrity, appeal to all three aspects of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle.
By using a celebrity, Capital One appealed to their audience’s sense of Ethos. When someone sees Taylor Swift using the Savor Card, they think it must be a smart thing to use, because Swift is a credible figure.
Branching off of Swift’s simple presence, her actions appeal to the audience’s sense of Pathos. When Swift makes mistakes, such a spilling the drink, the audience most likely relates, and therefore sympathizes with her, making them more likely to find the Savor Card as something beneficial to themselves.
Last but not least, Capital One makes sure to not lose any appeals to Logos in their commercial. Though the focus is primarily on Swift, Capital One sneakily places information about the Savor Card over top of the images. As mentioned earlier, this was even more effective because Capital One used Swift even when presenting their facts about the card by making connections to her previous songs.
All of these aspects of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle work together to make Capital One’s commercial a perfect example of using Kairos in the media. By choosing Taylor Swift as the celebrity playing the various roles, Capital One acted perfectly in their timing. Swift had just released a new song that was topping the charts, and was maintaining her position as a relatable celebrity, due to her advocacy for equal rights for people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, etc.. This made Swift the perfect celebrity for the time frame they released the commercial, as Swift was one of the most talked about celebrities of the moment.