M&M's

684 Words2 Pages

The adverting industry has a way to sell things to mass audiences with out actually providing any sound reason to do so, instead the use of rhetoric enables anyone to essential market anything. The advertisement that will be analyzed here is brought to you by the Mars Chocolate Company, and it deals with the “M&M’s” candy. The rhetorical devices being attached to the presentation are proof surrogate, appeal to common practice, and rationalization. Aside from this, the analysis will also include an answer to what audience is being targeted, what psychological effects are being expected, and what subconscious needs or desires is the presentation playing upon. By the end, the reader should have a clear picture of what purpose the advertisement serves.
Within this ad there are two major instances of proof surrogate at play. The first one comes in the phrase, “[i]t’ll make your chocolate taster even better”. The “it” being referred to within the quote relates to the action of sharing, with the claim stating that sharing with another person will augment the taste of the treat. There are no scientific reports or survey results presented to support the idea that sharing makes a snack taste better, and therefore must be dismissed as rhetoric. The advertisement goes a step further with this next phrase, “[s]haring our treats is just one little step that can make your day sweeter”. Here, the idea of sharing now takes on the benefit of making the day of a person “sweeter”. Again, there are no scientific reports or surveys that present any data that supports said results come about by sharing M&M’s. At Mars Company, they may take enjoyment seriously, but they must have forgotten about taking evidence seriously.
The appeal to common practic...

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...he psychological effect this presentation calls upon with the audience centers around making the individual feel better or happy, as stated with the claim of sharing the M&M’s. This ties into the subconscious need the product is claiming to satisfy, because it would be reasonable to assume that everyone wants joy and happiness and it just so happens that the company has the object that will give the customer these feelings. Another desire being played upon can be seen directly in the treat, sugar. From a young age many are given sweets like candy and acquire a taste or wanting for more and it would be because the human body needs sugar as a component to run. However, to much sugar or of the wrong kind can yield different results than those that expected. As stated in the ad, it is about finding a balance between things that will benefit individuals in the long run.

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