Rhetorical Analysis Of The Fourth Of July

The 4th of July is a major holiday in the US for feelings of patriotism and love for the country. This ad released by Ancestry.com highlights a significant event in US history, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and in a way makes people think about the world we live in and the importance of diversity and equality. It was released on June 29th, 2017, in time for the 4th of July when many people’s attention is directed towards similar themes. With this timeline and style, it uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos, to appeal to people’s sense of curiosity and their beliefs, in order to get people interested in purchasing their service. The advertisement “Declaration Descendants” released by Ancestry.com represents many different

social groups in positive, confident ways to show and promote diversity today while also selling their service.

The first strategy that Ancestry.com uses in this advertisement is the use of diversity.

In the “Declaration Descendants” ad we see many different social groups represented in a professional way. We see men and women, young and old, and all different kinds of ethnicities and lifestyles represented. This gives the opportunity for all viewers to feel included and represented because there is a character for everyone to relate to. Ancestry.com shows that they believe in the positivity of diversity by showing many different people in strictly positive ways. The people are represented as confident, professional, intelligent, and serious based upon their clothing and what they are saying. The Declaration of Independence is important and the voices reading it are just as important. The diversity of people reading the key phrases shows the importance of that diversity. At the end of the ad, after all the different people have been shown, text on the screen says that everyone assembled is descended from a signer of the Declaration of Independence. This is a powerful message because, at this point in the ad, everyone has connected to at least one person shown and now they can connect that to Ancestry.com and the curiosity of who their ancestors could be. By creating the emotional connection between the people in the advertisement and their audience, Ancestry.com is able to sell their service. The connection appeals to the viewers’ beliefs, values, and curiosity. They also present the

entire ad in a serious sense, drawing more of the viewers’ attention.

The second strategy that the advertiser uses in “Declaration Descendants” is the presentation of the advertisement: the professional setting, clothing, language and mood throughout the entire ad. The Declaration of Independence is such an important event in history that most people can recognize the setting of the original signing even though no one alive today was actually there. Ancestry.com relies on this widespread knowledge to draw many strong parallels between their ad and the original event. The advertisement is set in a room designed to be a nearly exact replica of where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the people positioned around the room, sitting or standing are positioned exactly the same as the founding fathers were. The colors of the featured people’s clothing are noticeably similar to those from the signing, darker, earth-based shades. The professional language of the Declaration of Independence sets the serious and professional mood, as does the lighting. The lighting of the advertisement is dark and shadowy, as was the real thing. If someone were to look at the end of this video and an image from the original signing, the only difference to find would be the people represented. The original signing is composed of only white males, where the new advertisement features all different backgrounds. The identicalness of the advertisement to the original signing, with the exception of the diversity, highlights that aspect of the advertisement and creates a powerful effect. This strategy shows their beliefs as a company and allows viewers to make that connection based on shared values.

Ancestry.com uses the representation of diverse social groups and the showcase of their own values to create an emotional connection with their audience by using the rhetorical appeal of pathos.

The use of many different social groups shows that they support diversity and believe that it makes us stronger as a nation. By presenting these values, they can appeal to people that have similar values and may use that to influence their decision to purchase this service. Diversity also shows people that anyone could be descended from a founding father. They use this to appeal to people’s sense of curiosity and keep people of different backgrounds from excluding themselves due to ethnicity. To appeal even more to people’s sense of curiosity, at the very end of the ad they show their catchphrase, “Unlock your past. Inspire your future.” This phrase makes people even more curious by adding a bit of mystery and implying that your ancestors can impact your future, and therefore, draws people even more to their service with the impression of your future depending on it. Overall, these things all make this advertisement particularly strong and something that draws people’s attention and

thoughts.

The big thing that Ancestry.com does in this ad is create an emotional connection with their viewers by presenting their own beliefs about a serious issue. This is important because an ad is never just an ad. It’s never as simple as it seems. For every ad that airs on television, many thousands of dollars of behind the scenes work have gone towards its 30-60 seconds of glory. That kind of money isn’t spent on nothing, and every ad has a deeper meaning, however hidden. As a consumer, it is important to analyze ads and fully understand what they are selling and promoting at every opportunity.

A reminder of my failures:
They mention at the end after you’ve seen all the different people that everyone that they assembled people that were descendants of the declaration of the independence