A Rhetorical Analysis Of Budweiser's Drinking And Driving Commercial

Across the United States it is illegal for anyone to drink under the age of twenty-one. With strict laws being enforced to help avoid accidents and purchasing alcohol from adults of the age. Law enforcement threaten offenders by using forms of punishment such as jail time, fines, and or restrictions. Despite the barriers many underage teens and children still manage to get access to alcohol. While many think that lowering the age to eighteen or nineteen will resolve the problem, many think that access will encourage them to consume it.
The Budweiser’s Drinking and Driving Commercial, “Someone waits for you at home,” which aired in 2014 during the super bowl tugges at our heart as we watch the man and his dog become best friends. Throughout the video, Budweiser uses many strong sources of happiness and sympathy to strengthen credibility and appeal to ethos as well as building an argument. Towards the beginning and the end of the video we see pathos as it grabs on to our emotions and brings the argument together. This commercial hits home for many of us as we have pets at home who we love

and care about. As we start watching the man come home with a sweet innocent puppy who just wants to play. We watch as the puppy begins to grow and the man brings his buddy with him to gatherings with friends, road trips, and shows constant love and affection for him. We reach the end as the owner goes out with friends carrying a pack of beer with him. While the dog sits and waits for his owner he begins to show sadness because he isn’t returning, but suddenly he shows up the next day. The dog is excited to see his owner is ok and home safe and sound.
Budweiser effectively makes appeals to pathos in the beginning and the end of the commercial. In the beginning we notice them forming a bond once he brings home his dog. Taking him on trips with friends to snuggling him on the couch we feel happy. We get to experience the adventures they went through and that a dog is a man’s best friend. By the end of the commercial we see that the owner isn’t returning back from a night out with friends and the dog is upset with him being gone. It shows us what it is like if we decided to get behind the wheel after drinking. That it doesn’t just affect us but our loved ones as well.
Adding more to pathos, the video has music playing in the background.

The song shows us the pathos in the commercial, with it being happy. It plays a big role in setting the mood and how we should be feeling when the dog and his owner are together. Towards the end of the commercial the song stops as we feel bad for the dog because his owner didn’t come home. The song choice for the commercial helps us understand that it’s suppose to make us feel happy and touch our hearts and then feel bad for the dog because this could happen to anyone. As teenagers, who may or may not go out on the weekends know that it is safer to get and Uber or ask a friend to stay sober to drive home. In other situations it is better off to stay if nobody is able to drive home and I think Budweiser did a good job when they had the character say he stayed instead of it ending up bad and never coming

home.
We also hear the owner talking to his dog encouraging him along the way as he grows up. The owner and his dog have a special bond where they both look out for each other and we notice that during the commercial. When the owner speaks to his dog the commerciall provokes the connection they share and we feel happy while we watch. At the end of the video the owner apologizes for not showing up the night before and telling him that he thought it was best that he stay the night at his friends house instead of driving home after a night of drinking. During the time the dog doesn’t have his owner and looks sad that he isn’t home we felt sad for him and knowing it’s a commercial for beer we assume the worst. That isn’t always the case for people. In some cases it’s a happy ending like in the commercial but sometimes it doesn’t always end the way we want it to. We have to be careful in what we decide to do when we are drinking.
Throughout the video, Budweiser uses strong text towards the end of the video to help us understand the ethos and why we shouldn’t drink and drive. They first start out with a black screen and the words ‘ For some the waiting never ended. But we can change that.’ Then they go back to the dog as he sees his owner walks into the door. After they show us how happy the dog was to see his owner they go back to a black screen with the words ‘Make plans to make it home. Your friends are counting on you.’ Ending the video with the Budweiser logo and the hashtag friends are waiting. As the words show up on the black screen the background a faint guitar plays to help bring awareness. The words stand out as they appear in a white subtle font. Between the text they show the man as he returns home to his dog explaining why he didn’t make it home. Many people face that fear because people take a chance after they drink, by driving home. Sometimes we have to keep our loved ones in the back of our mind and think. “What would they want me to do?”
In the video they showed the beer but not making it play a huge concept of the commercial. Throughout the video we notice that the owner carries a pack of Budweiser when they go out with friends and occasionally have it on the table when they are at home. At the end of the video we see the big logo pop up after it is done playing. They did a good job of showing that beer brings people together but not in a big way.
Additionally, in the ad when thinking about the imagery and sound together can impact us. When watching the ad we see that without the sound we wouldn’t feel the way we do when watching as the dog runs towards his owner as the song plays. Imagery is a huge factor when it comes to pleasing the audience. Budweiser played moments of their lives to have us see the journey they go on together. If in the video they would have showed us how he brought the dog home and then showed the end where he was bigger and waiting for him people would be confused. When watching the video we see how much joy they bring to each other's lives and he wasn’t willing to give that up after one night of drinking and driving.
Budweiser uses many strong sources of happiness and sympathy to strengthen credibility and appeal to ethos as well as building an argument. Towards the beginning and the end of the video we see pathos as it grabs on to our emotions and bring the argument together. Many of us can relate to the video because we have a pet at home that we care about. As we continue our college careers we need to keep in mind that drinking is all around us. By remembering our limits and if we have to say no. Returning to the main point they are bringing to this video, which is drinking and driving. It is ok to go out with friends and have a good time, they are trying to tell us that whether we have one drink or seven we should always have a backup plan on whether or not we are driving home that night.
When we look back on our parents at when they use to go out, it was so much easier to get alcohol then compared to now. When they would get caught for drinking underage the officer would take their drink and tell them to go home. Now we get a possession or even jail time. Times were simpler back then, in today’s world we have so much laws to help us be safe when we drinking. Always remember to never drink and drive because someone who loves you is waiting for you back home.