Mcdonald's Ethos Pathos Logos

The strongest rhetorical strategy that Egger and McDonald utilized was Logos because the men’s sales and prices were the most convincing information given to Sharks to make them want to invest in Sweet Ballz. During the early description of Sweet Ballz, Egger mentioned that their cake balls sell for a fraction of the cost of other cake balls and cake pops on their market. They explained that their Sweet Ballz sell in packs of 4, while other cake balls and pops sell individually (Tina Gonzales). Mentioning their competitors’ products positively affected their pitch because the Sharks know that people would be more willing to buy Sweet Ballz instead of their competitors’ similar products. Their 4 pack of Sweet Ballz “retail anywhere from $1.99

to $2.49” and they currently cost $0.86 to make the packs of Sweet Ballz (Tina Gonzales). Compared to other cake pops and balls on the market, their product is much cheaper. Some other brands of cake pops cost about $1.50 for just one cake pop. Giving the Sharks the actual amount that the Sweet Ballz cost to make and how much they sell for positively affected their pitch because the Sharks can recognize that Egger and McDonald are making a comfortable amount of money from each pack of Sweet Ballz sold. When asked about their sales, Egger stated that “in the last 90 days, we’ve done $700,000 in sales”. All of the Sharks were blown away by this figure, and wondered where they sell their product. McDonald responded with, “the largest convenience store in the United States…7/11” (Tina Gonzales). Telling the Sharks that they made $700K in just 90 days shows them that this company is growing fast and that Egger and McDonald are not struggling to keep the company alive. This lets the Sharks know that their investment in Sweet Ballz will not be a decision that they will regret because this company is profiting from sales, not losing money.
However, some of the Logos that they incorporated in their pitch generated mixed feelings from the Sharks. Telling the Sharks that they made $700K shows their success, but this use of Logos could have made the Sharks think that Egger and McDonald did not need their investment in order for the company to grow. After saying that they made $700,000 in 90 days, McDonald told the Sharks that about 95% of their sales come from 7/11 (Tina Gonzales). The Sharks show concern because if 7/11 decides to remove the product from their convenience stores, the men will go from making $2.8 million a year to only $140,000 a year. The risk of their sales plummeting like that could have easily driven the Sharks away. Barbara Corcoran also points out to the Egger and McDonald that 10% of their company is nothing to get excited about (Tina Gonzales). If the men had originally given them a higher percentage in exchange for the $250,000, the men probably would have gotten offers faster. None of the Sharks agreed to give them $250,000 for only 10% of their company and they had to raise the percentage in order for the Sharks to get involved. Although the monetary figures and data that they gave the Sharks was mostly positive, the men still has a few flaws in their presentation because of their success before the show, the percent of sales coming from 7/11, and the low percentage of the company that they offered in exchange for the Sharks’ investment.
Egger and McDonald also utilized Ethos in order to display their credibility and convince the Sharks to invest in their Sweet Ballz. When asked how they became so successful in the past 3 months, Egger and McDonald explain their backgrounds in business and marketing. McDonald mentions that they “both have experience bringing items to retail” and that he, specifically, used to work in marketing in the Dallas area. After that, McDonald “started working for a manufacturer where I really learned the retail side” of business. Egger, on the other hand, has been a “serial entrepreneur all my life” and he “worked in the frozen food product category”, but none of his other enterprises flourished because they did not have the right partnerships or could not raise the capital they needed for the business to grow (Tina Gonzales). Both of the men telling the Sharks about their previous jobs helped build their credibility because it lets the Sharks know that Egger and McDonald have experience in the field of business and entrepreneurial endeavors. The Sharks can recognize that the men know what they have to do to feel the business afloat because of their past experience in this industry. However, when Egger mentions that his other enterprises have made money but that he would not consider them successful, he slightly hurt his credibility. The Sharks may think that because his other endeavors started out as promising projects but failed later on, the same could happen to Sweet Ballz.
Egger and McDonald also integrated a handful of appeals to Pathos and feelings of nostalgia throughout their pitch in order to create a need for their product and convince the Sharks to invest.

When McDonald is telling the Sharks about the flavors that they offer, he mentions that the chocolate Sweet Ball is just like the cakes “your momma used to make” (Tina Gonzales). McDonald is making appeals to their emotions when he says this line because it brings about feelings of nostalgia to not only the Sharks, but their extended audience of at-home viewers of the show. Causing a feeling of nostalgia in the Sharks and the at-home viewers would make Egger and McDonald’s audience want to buy the Sweet Ballz so they could enjoy a treat that tastes like a homemade cake. This Pathos ties in with the need/desire for the product. By mentioning that “everyone loves a good cake ball, but very few are interested in spending the hours it takes to create them”, McDonald creates a need for their product because people will want to go buy their cake balls to experience the old-fashioned taste of chocolate cake, just like “your momma used to make” (Tina Gonzales). With the men establishing a need/desire for their product before they actually tell the Sharks how much they make from the Sweet Ballz, the Sharks would be more willing to invest because they know that the product has the possibility of making money. Pathos is also briefly used in an exchange between McDonald and Mark Cuban. McDonald is explaining that he used to work in sports marketing in the Dallas area and Mark makes a comment that McDonald didn’t work for the best team in Dallas. McDonald replies with “the best team is the Dallas Mavericks, no doubt” (Tina Gonzales). This flattery appeals to Mark Cuban because he is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and when McDonald says that his team is the best, it probably boosted Cuban’s opinion of the two men. Cuban actually ends up investing in Sweet Ballz by the end

of the episode. Although Egger and McDonald had a few good examples of Pathos used in their pitch, it was not as effective or convincing as the Logos and Ethos they incorporated in the presentation. The Pathos they used was more convincing for the extended audience than the Sharks.