“Rhetorical Analysis: Audi ‘Green Police’ Commercial”

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Some of the great philosophers known to man, Aristotle and Plato, wanted the ability to persuade. Aristotle wanted to be able to persuade people with a good amount of time, wisdom, and knowledge so that people could see the good of something. His student, Plato, wanted to be able to persuade people quickly and more affectively by persuading them in a very short time frame. So in order to quickly persuade people, Plato proposed an argument by expressing an idea and supporting it with rhetorical evidence. From Plato’s teaching came three types of rhetorical evidence; logos, which argues by logic; pathos, which argues by the use of sympathy and empathy; and ethos, which argues by the use of ethical appeals. Today the three types of rhetorical analysis can be found everywhere in everyday life. Just like Plato, ad writers who produce TV commercials want to persuade people in a short amount of time. These ad writers have to persuade the view point of their audience in about 30 seconds to a minute in time. In 2010, during Super Bowl XLIV, a commercial by Audi was premiered. This Audi commercial is a great example of the use of the three types of rhetorical evidence; logos, pathos, and ethos.
Audi’s car commercial, “Green Police,” premiered during Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. The chaos begins in the opening ten seconds of the commercial. A man is at the register purchasing groceries. Before bagging his items, the cashier asks the man what type of grocery bag he wanted by asking, “Paper or plastic?” The customer responds by saying, “Plastic!” As soon as the man responds to the cashier question, he is immediately arrested by the “green police.” While arresting the man, the policeman says, “You picked the wrong day to mess with the ecosystem pla...

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...ironment clean. He did so my stating, “Green has never felt so good.” That statement also ties into the use of ethos as well, trying to get the viewers to do the right thing, when ironically the people in the commercial were obviously not doing the right thing the whole time.
Rhetorical evidence is everywhere. It can be found in any shape or form in everyday life. Writers, producer, speakers, and even teachers use the rhetorical techniques some of our founding philosophers, Aristotle and Plato, once used to persuade an audience. These speaker, teachers, and writers used rhetorical evidence such as logos, pathos, and ethos to get their point across and to change to view point of another individual.

Works Cited

"Green Police Audi Ad Super Bowl 2010." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 24 Apr. 2012.
Web. 9 Jan. 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVPyHrPZbVM

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