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Coca-Cola Rhetorical Analysis
The world of business if often complicated and unpredictable, as are many aspects of life. Trademarks are a common law in modern culture, that determine who has the rights to a particular slogan and can often times be challenging. The given letters sent between Ira C. Herbert of the Coca-Cola Company and Richard Seaver of Grove Press go over this obscurity. Coincidentally, both of the companies have used the slogan, “It’s the Real Thing” in their advertising, thus creating conflict over who has the rights to the phrase. Both men make use of various rhetorical strategies to try and claim ownership to the rights of the slogan, however Mr. Seaver of Grove Press provides a more convincing argument by effectively refuting Mr. Herbert’s arguments and his sarcastic use of rhetorical devices.
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The letter written by Mr.
Herbert, an executive of the Coca-Cola company, embodies a condescending tone towards Mr. Seaver’s use of “it’s the real thing.” He tries to argue the idea that "there will always be likelihood of confusion" between a book and a Coca-Cola drink. To believe, or even ty to argue that an individual would be so uneducated to assume that a "book by a Harlem school teacher" and a "six-pack of Coca-Cola," are the same thing; is ridiculous. The tone of Mr. Herberts letter is demanding, and this authoritative voice doesn’t do anything to help persuade, if anything it achieves the opposite effect.
In Mr. Seaver’s letter he makes great use of sarcastic humor in his response that lays base for a more persuasive argument. Being humorous and sarcastic about the ridiculous situation, Seaver maintains an effective response to the demanding and condescending tone used in Herbert's letter. Seaver quite innocently writes that neither him nor anyone in the agency realized that the Coca-Cola company owned the rights to the phrase. However, though Seaver may use sarcastic humour to effectively make his point, does so in a respectful business-like
way By refuting Mr. Herbert’s appeal to “tradition” with his own appeal, and reducing Mr. Herbert’s argument to be absolutely absurd in a humorous yet respectful manner, Mr. Seaver is able to offer a persuasive case in support of Grove Press’ right to use “It’s the Real Thing” in their advertising of a book. Mr. Seaver uses wit and quick thinking to respond to Mr. Herbert’s argument and to make an overall more persuasive argument.
W. Seaver, however, replies to Herbert in a satirical and an almost amused tone to resolve the misunderstanding by the Coca-Cola company. Seaver takes great advantage of satire by basically mocking Coca-Cola’s concern over the line: As if “the public might be confused by the use of the expression, and mistake a book by a Harlem school teacher for a six-pack of Coca-Cola.” He shows Herbert in an indirect way that this is a situation encountered years ago by a book they published called “One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding.” He used this reference to mock Coca-Cola and guilt them for the situation; protecting the line is not worth sacrificing one-hundred dollars since Coca-Cola is, most likely, notorious for the line. He also shows sympathy towards Coca-Cola and describes a situation that Grove Press Inc. has encountered in the past: He claims that “Problems not unsimilar to the ones you raise in your letter have occurred to us in the past.
Thus, Seaver’s letter is the more persuasive of the two. Herbert’s letter employs a simplistic structure, which stretches a single line of reasoning. It introduces the subject, makes its claim, provides reasoning, and gives evidence, primarily based upon the fact that Coca-Cola used the phrase in question first. In the second paragraph, for example, he remarks that store employees were instructed to “make sure that what the customer wants is the book, rather than a Coke.”
In this generation businesses use commercial to persuade different types of audiences to buy their product or to persuade them to help a certain caused. If you analyze commercial you can see how certain things play a major role in the success of a commercial. The ad I decide to analyze as an example is the commercial snickers used during the Super Bowl in 2010;”Betty White”-Snickers. This commercials starts off with guys playing a game of football with an elderly women know as Betty White. As Betty White tries to play football she is tackled to the ground. Her teammates refer to her as Mike when they come up to her to ask why she has been “playing like Betty White all day”. This helps inform the audience that Betty White is not actually playing but instead represent another teammate. As the guys keep arguing Mikes girlfriend calls her over and tells her to eat a snicker. Betty White takes the first bite and then suddenly a man appears in her place ready to finish the game. At the end of the commercial the statement "You're not you when you're hungry" is shown followed by the Snickers bar logo. What this commercial is trying to show is that hunger changes a person, and satisfying this hunger can change you back to your normal self. They use different types
PepsiCo with almost a 3-minute commercial using Kendall Jenner as the silent communication source, using visual language with all ethnic and race being included using career choices such as a cellist, a photographer and dancer; a song written and sung by Skip Marley “Lions”; not to mention the men in blue was expected to be a hit advertisement by showing it was time to bring the world together as one. To be able to bring peace and understanding to every individual or let it be shown that all people count, not just one ethnic group or race. This advertisement was used to try to defuse the conflict of street protest and the violence that often comes with it, particularly the black lives matter movement. Showing the men in blue there to protect and serve; yet will do whatever it takes to control the ongoing issue at hand. The way Jenner being shown ditching a high fashion photo shoot ripping off her blonde wig, to join a protest and prance around with every nationality with a Pepsi in hand smiling as saying this is what will make the world a better place. The words in the music “we
In attempt to sway Seaver to eliminate the phrase “It’s the real thing” from the Grove Press’ advertisement, Ira C. Herbert begins his letter assertively by claiming that Coca-Cola has an exclusive
In the second to last paragraph, Seaver directly informs the Coca-Cola Company that their slogan is used by other companies and in order for them to realize that their slogans are also being used, also being used by other companies that are not related to Grove Press Inc. For example, on paragraph four, Seaver says,” Problems not unsimilar to the ones you raise in your letter have occurred to us in the past.” Basically, Seaver is saying that there has not been a situation, similar to what Herbert is warning, that has occurred before to Grove Press. From this statement, readers can infer that Seaver is beginning to state the flaws to the supposed warning and that it would not be necessary because it has not happened before. To further illustrate
Advertisements are all over the place. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape them. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. And of course they are selling their product. This is a multi billion dollar industry and the advertiser’s study all the ways that they can attract the person’s attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products. For me to analyze this advertisement I used the rhetorical triangle, as well as ethos, pathos, and logos.
This is a compare and contrast rhetorical analysis paper focusing on a print billboard advertisement and television commercial. The billboard advertisement is centered on a smoking death count, sponsored by several heart research associations. In addition, the television Super Bowl commercial illustrates how irresistible Doritos are, set in an ultrasound room with a couple and their unborn child. The following paragraphs will go in depth to interpret the pathos, logos, and ethos of both the billboard and the television advertisements.
In this mock press release from The Onion, the author is parodying the way products are branded to consumers. He assumes that the techniques utilized by sponsors are misrepresented and manipulative. The author shows his disdain for marketing techniques by using irony, hyperbole, and diction.
Seaver mocks Herbert’s request using lines such as, “ We would certainly not want to dilute… nor diminish… but it did occur to us that since the slogan is so closely identified to your product…” (para 2). In other words, Seaver blatantly shows the irony in the letter by showing that the letter would not be necessary unless Coca-Cola is not selling as well as it usually does for it to be confused with a book. This criticism shows that Coca-Cola is threatened by competition and losing its place as one of the top selling companies. Adding insult to injury, this is done when Seaver states sarcastically, “We would be happy to give Coke the residual benefit of our advertising” (para 2). The essence of Seaver’s argument is that Grove Press, is going to sell its products, and if Coca-Cola wants a sum of the money, then Seaver’s Company will gladly oblige. Seaver is suggesting that Coca-Cola is consumed with greed and is power hungry to the extent of needing to remove all sorts of competition regardless of product. To sum up, Seaver demonstrates the destructive flaws within the Coca-Cola company that will turn the public against
Herbert “believes that you will agree that it is undesirable” for the companies and their own different markets, respectively (8). In order to continue to reinforce his argument, Herbert uses context of the company such as how the slogan was “first used in advertising for Coca-Cola over twenty-seven years ago” (14-15). Herbert ends is letter and therefore his argument making the assumption that he had wrote enough to be able to persuade Seaver and the Grove Press to see it from Coca-Cola’s perspective and comply with Herbert’s
Nike, the cost for a certain logo on your clothing, this might be worth it for some while for others, not even a chance. Nike is known worldwide for their athletic clothing and shoes. But is the price of a 20 dollar headband or a 200 dollar pair of shoes with it for you?
Herbert is concluding his letter by formally demanding Seaver to not use the “It’s the real thing” slogan anymore because Coca Cola does not see it as convenient for themselves and their advertising. He believes that by releasing the advertisement its customers would be confuse on which is which. He feels that their might be a decrease in the company. Herbert requests the use of a new slogan for Mr. Haskins’ book. The purpose of Herbert ending his letter with these comments, is to oblige Seaver to desist from using the slogan any further by using asserting phrases such as, “...that you will discontinue the use…” which adds sense of importance and urgency to Herbert’s statements.
Herbert incorporates a serious and reassuring tone in order to portray, in the best manner possible, his urgency of preventing Mr. Seaver and other advertising companies refrain from using the same slogan as Coca-Cola out of fear of it affecting the sales of their soft drink
Catchy jingles are what persuades consumers to buy more and more products that they hear about every day. This concept has been around for years and the Coca-Cola Company is no stranger to it. Back in July of 1971, Coca-Cola released the commercial, “I’d like to Buy the World a Coke” that sent their customers into chaos with over 100,000 letters being sent to the company asking for more. This leaves many people asking: how did this one commercial have such an impact on the audience? And what did Coca-Cola use that drew so many people in? Here we will discover the method behind what is “I’d like to buy the World a Coke.”