ASPCA Commercials

Although there are various ways to watch television programs today, one thing remains the same on each platform, commercials. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercial, without fail, has the power to depress people in less than two minutes. As the haunting tone of “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan begins to play, many viewers decide to change the channel, mute the TV, or even do other tasks away from the TV to avoid feeling guilty as the images of the mistreated animals flash across the screen. This heartwrenching commercial raises awareness for animal abuse and its attempt to put a stop to it. ASPCA utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos in their commercial to earn donations. This commercial primarily capitalizes

on the faces of the injured animals, their injuries, the somber music in the background, and the structure of the commercial to convince their target audience to donate.
The ASPCA works to save numerous animals from malnutrition, neglect and abuse from their owners, but can only function through donations.

One way they get these donations is through their commercial, which enters the homes of TV viewers constantly. Viewers donate money by calling the number shown on screen at the end, and pledging to make a minimum monthly donation of $18. Since their target audience is people who know and love animals, and those who support animals rights, which is what constitutes much of the American Public, they receive over $30 million in donations over the six years this commercial has aired. If the viewers do not donate, they are made to feel as if they are a horrible and unethical

person.
ASPCA has received these donations by utilizing ideals of rhetoric language. Its main way of getting these donations is through pathos, where it induces a feeling of hopelessness for these animals. Viewers are forced to stare into the eyes of the injured animals that scroll by on the screen, if they do not change the channel first. This makes the viewers feel guilty as they have a chance to stop the violence, but do not utilize it to better the lives of these animals. The somber melody of “Angel” in the background adds to the depressing mood of the commercial as Sarah McLachlan states “Right now, there is an animal who needs you. And your call says I’m here to help” (ASPCA). In some versions of the commercial, Sarah even uses the word “savior” to describe the donor of money from the animal’s perspective. This makes the viewer more sympathetic, and assists in creating a desire to donate to the organization. Through this commercial, viewers are presented with a call to ethical action, which they may or may not fulfill.
The chorus of “Angel” plays in the background of this commercial with the lyrics “In the arms of an angel.” This lyric suggests that the viewer would be an angel to the mistreated animal, for helping them have the ability to recuperate, as angels do for humans in mythology. This appeals to the ethical side of the viewers as helping out an injured animal is the right thing to do. Sarah McLachlan starts off her plea for donations by directly asking the viewer “Will you be an angel for a helpless animal?” (ASPCA). This plea, along with the lyrics of the song, really push the message of helping the mistreated animals. Within the viewer, a struggle now occurs: whether to donate money or live with the guilt of not donating to save an animal from a fate that brings them closer and closer to death. The ASPCA is a well reputed nonprofit organization who attempts to save all the mistreated animals, and is aided by Sarah McLachlan in their quest to get donations to function. Sarah McLachlan is an avid supporter of animal rights, and is the main voice in the commercial, thus causing the viewers to perceive her as a credible representative for the organization. The use of a celebrity, Sarah, to make the plea for more donations shows ethos, as viewers will be more likely to respond to the words of a celebrity rather than the words of a normal person who is speaking out for the organization.
The commercial is structured in a logical way, so as to first show the viewers the animals that are injured, and then show them what happens if they do not have enough fiscal support to recuperate the animals.

The words: “Every day millions of animals are abused and neglected,” (ASPCA) appear on the screen and is followed by images of some of the animals looking mournfully into the camera. This is to show the viewers why the organization needs the fiscal support. Then the text “For some, the help comes too late,” flashes (ASPCA). This is followed by older images of animals, where the quality of the images are not that great, who the viewers can infer are being put down, due to how close they are to death and how miserable they look. Throughout the commercial, she is petting a healthy golden lab to contrast the images of the hurt animals that appear as she talks. Viewers contrast the image of the happy and healthy dog and the images of the injured animals. This creates a logical way for the viewers to see the difference between the animals. Finally, Sarah McLachlan offers a way to help these poor, dying animals, by giving the viewers a number to call and to donate money to. This structure shows the progression of the mistreatment these animals endure, and thus causes the viewers to donate to the

organization.
The ad also appeals to the logical mind, as it breaks down the minimum monthly donation of $18 into 60¢ per day, which to many people sounds like a reasonable amount to donate. Most humans would be annoyed at giving an organization around $20 a month, but when it is broken down into a daily contribution that is less than a dollar a day, it seems more feasible for people to donate the amount everyday, to help salvage the lives of these poor animals. The images of the animals for whom the help came too late makes it seem as if, if one more person had donated, that animal would have been saved. Therefore, the commercial implys that because you did not donate, the animal in need of your help is going to die. Their plea for help is supported by the images of the doleful animals and the videos of the animals who are struggling to even walk because of the injuries that they have faced. Additionally, the beginning of the commercial presents the viewers with a statistic of 3000 animals are tortured in America everyday (ASPCA). This shows how often this type of abuse occurs in America, and how important it is to try and stop the mistreatment of the animals. However, with the fiscal support of the viewers, the organization can put a stop to this inhumane treatment of animals and thus create better lives for them overall. Finally, in the end, the viewers who donate are given a picture of an animal, and a tshirt, who they have helped to save, thus making their donation seem more tangible and less superfluous. These objects are meant to be rewards for the people who donate, and then can be used to spread the message of the ASPCA around to other people as well.
ASPCA utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos in its commercial to convince viewers of the commercial to donate to the organization. It affects the viewers emotionally primarily through the images of the injured and sad animals staring into the camera, then tests the ethical standards by asking “Will you be an angel today?”, and then gives a logical breakdown of the monthly “gift” to just less than a dollar a day to make the donation seem reasonable enough to the viewers to pay. It emphasizes that your monthly donation will give an animal a second chance at life, thus improving the viewer’s probability of donating. The ad also uses buzzwords such as savior to give the donating viewer a sense of pride and happiness. Using this methods of rhetorical language, the ad has been successful in raising money for the organization and in promoting the cause of animal welfare in many of its other branches, as well as within America.