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Logical Fallacies in Advertising
Logical Fallacies in Advertising
Logical Fallacies in Advertising
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Fallacy Summary and Application
Fallacies are used in many applications of business. Companies use them to push products, spin dropping profits, and to prevent losses in customer base. Politicians use fallacies constantly to attack opponents and to change to subject when pressure is put on them for things they have done in the past. This paper will discuss three different types of fallacies and how companies and individuals use amphiboly, false analogy, and ad hominem to sell their product or opinions.
Amphiboly is a fallacy that uses vague statements to cause people to draw the wrong conclusions. Claritin is an antihistamine used for allergy relief. Before August of 1997, the Claritin commercials showed a woman running through a field with an announcer stating "At last a clear day" and "Its time to see your doctor". Not once was the benefit or the hazards of the drug mentioned. People would then think, "I would like to have a clear day. I should call my doctor". This was causing people to call their doctors to ask if they needed Claritin or one of the other drugs to have a clear day. The reasons the pharmaceutical companies did this was because before 1997 an ad could be made with the drugs name but as long as the benefits were not mentioned the side effects did not have to be mentioned either. Fortunately, in 1997 the FDA changed the law.
Sometimes companies use false analogies to fool people into thinking that what they are buying is better or something altogether different then what they are purchasing. Not all false analogies are spoken; some false analogies can be used through animation or art. In WWII Saab built aircraft for the war effort and after the war their plans were not in demand so they crossed over to automobiles. In Saab's latest commercials there is a car driving down an isolated strip of land when a group of fighter jets fly over head at low altitude. The announcer then proclaims, "When you used to build fighter jets, you don't build just another car". At no point does the commercial state any facts of how the car differs from other cars. It relies on the viewer to associate the planes with the car and deduce that since the company built high performance aircraft it can build a high performance car. While the fact the engineers were able to input there knowledge of aircraft design into automobiles is encouraging, it in no way gives them the right to claim their cars are better because of it.
This Further Oral Activity will be presented in a T.V. show format (Based on the show “The Gruen Transfer”), with the host focusing on the false advertising of well-known health foods and drinks. This FOA will focus on the persuasive language and manipulative strategies used by businesses to influence and mislead consumers into believing false perceptions of their product, using case examples to support the evidence presented. The purpose of this FOA to inform the audience on the plethora of manipulative and persuasive language used in advertising from ‘supposedly’ healthy products, while the target audience is Australian T.V. viewers 18-50 who are interested in the influence of advertising. The context of the piece is based on today’s
“The Onion’s” mock press release on the MagnaSoles satirical article effectively attacks the rhetorical devices, ethos and logos, used by companies to demonstrate how far advertisers will go to convince people to buy their products. It does this by using manipulative, “scientific-sounding" terminology, comparisons, fabrication, and hyperboles. For companies to portray the advantages of their products this article shows how heavily hyperbolized their products are, and uses comparisons to attract buyers. Such is portrayed through customer testimonials.
The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.
How naive are product consumers today? People assume things are factual without questioning the credibility of a person or product. An article in “The Onion” mocks advertisers in a satirical tone to show the bizarre tactics companies use to market their products to customers. The author writes on the topic of “MagnaSoles” shoe inserts, a fictional brand used for his demonstration. He uses devices such as humor, false authority/science, and irony to display the outlandish strategies of advertisers.
It is very common among the United States’ political sphere to rely heavily on T.V. commercials during election season; this is after all the most effective way to spread a message to millions of voters in order to gain their support. The presidential election of 2008 was not the exception; candidates and interest groups spent 2.6 billion dollars on advertising that year from which 2 billion were used exclusively for broadcast television (Seelye 2008.) Although the effectiveness of these advertisements is relatively small compared to the money spent on them (Liasson 2012), it is important for American voters to think critically about the information and arguments presented by these ads. An analysis of the rhetoric in four of the political campaign commercials of the 2008 presidential election reveals the different informal fallacies utilized to gain support for one of the candidates or misguide the public about the opposing candidate.
In everyday life we are bombarded with advertisements, projects, and commercials from companies trying to sell their products. Many of these ads use rhetorical devices to “convey meaning [,] or persuade” their audiences (Purdue OWL) . Projects, such as the Dove Self-Esteem Project uses native advertising in their commercials, which refers to a brand or product being simultaneously and indirectly promoted. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, as well as the fallacies corresponding to each device, that the Dove Company uses in their self-esteem project .
During the first week of class, we discussed informal fallacies. An informal fallacy is defined as a logical mistake. Five of the informal fallacies discussed were equivocation, ad hominem, straw man, appeal to authority, and secundum. Each of these fallacies is comparable to what happens in everyday life conversations. Through analyzing, one should be able to determine how these logical mistakes connect with our everyday lives.
A fallacy is defined as a failure in reasoning that renders an argument invalid, faulty reasoning, or a misleading or unsound argument. There are many kinds of fallacies and even websites devoted to describing the various kinds of logical fallacies. Fallacies, though, are slippery little fiends, which do not hesitate to creep in even where they are unwanted. No one wants their argument proved false, but careful, critical readers can spot these shifty deceivers. On the website of the Center for American Progress, there is an article – authored by Catherine Brown and Ulrich Boser – called “The DeVos Family Dynasty.” This article is a poor example of persuasive communication because there are many cases of ad hominem fallacy, the authors repeatedly
People are unable to judge their own flaws causing them to be gullible and believe whatever they perceive to be correct, shown through pseudoscience and consumer testimonials. Overall, this article highlights the use of Marketing Techniques used in everyday life in order to show importance towards business products. By appealing to people’s ignorance to words like “biochemistry” and “Terranometry” illustrates how, if we believe the word sounds acceptable, than we consider it to be correct. And by having positive feedback from different users, displays the success the product partakes, which is pleasing to nearly any consumer.
Thank you for smoking is a satirical comedy about a lobbyist whose job is to promote tobacco use at a time when the disease burden secondary to smoking threatens to cripple the nation. The film presents how industries, media and the government interact to influence the consumers’ decision. While the use of rhetoric, such as fallacies and twisted truths, is evident throughout the film, it is most evident midway when the chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, assists his son with his assignment. The son, Joey Naylor, enquires why the American government is the best and in response, the father argues it is because of America’s ‘endless appeals system’ (Thank you for smoking). His response seamlessly captures the tone of the movie as much as it represents the extensive use of a combination of fallacious arguments and twisted truths. This essay attempts to analyse the use of fallacies and twisted truths to appeal to the emotion of the
I think that the target audience for these cars is the same. these cars are family cars. Both of the cars are designed to be comfortable and safe, they are not advertised to be fast sports cars. or stylish city cars; they are advertised as normal cars. In both of the adverts there is no real reference towards the performance of the car apart from in the Chrysler where there is a reference to the fuel.
There are several types of fallacies that are committed each and every day throughout the world. They exist in the television we watch, the newspapers we read and the advertisements we see. By getting a better understanding of what a fallacy is, and how to prevent using them in arguments, people will grow stronger in their reasoning and be able to spot a fallacy when they see one. In addition, people will save themselves from bad information and bad arguments by defending themselves with the ability to use good logic and reasoning.
We see cars in our everyday lives, as transportation and sometimes even toys and model cars. So what else are they used for? Advertising is a big thing that cars do; for instance NASCAR FANS can see the most advertising just by flicking the tv on and watching what they like to see. They have different sponsors that they represent as advertising(Automotive History). Without your name being on a business card it can be broadcasted on a car that thousands of people can see as you drive by. It also made the market for different items much more competitive. For instance, going back to NASCAR, Jimmy Johnson represents Lowes and Joey Lagano represents the Home Depot. Therefore, if a customer were to like lowes better than The Home Depot the may like the driver Jimmy Johnson more. The Automobile shaped the cities we live in today, by the roads that surround the suburbs, and only some had to take the train or ride a bike, while others were able to just hope in their car and go where ever they please. When the car first appeared to the middle class public, it was a big deal because it was not just an upper class...
As we know fallacies are used very often in our lives. Ad Hominem fallacy is not an exception. Lately, in Democrat's governor nominee election, I noticed an Ad Hominem fallacy happened between Phil Angelides and Steve Westley. They used each other personal life and their investments against each other instead of proving each other wrong by scientific proofs. The environment was the subject of many exchanges TV ads between them.
Smiling faces, beautiful women and “American made” were the typical elements in advertisements during this decade. DDB’s first “big idea” behind the campaign was no different; The main goal was to make the Volkswagen more American by shooting Suzy Parker standing next to a Volkswagen. It wasn’t until after visiting the production line and watching the step by step production of the Volkswagen did DDB strike gold with an innovate new “big idea.” What resonated with the American advertising team the most during this visit was the incredible quality control of the German factory, thus they decided on “an honest car promoted with Honesty.”