Using Ethos, Pathos and Logos in Advertisements

Using Ethos, Pathos and Logos in Advertisements

An advertisement is a form of public writing in which the author uses writing strategies as a way to catch the attention of a reader and to persuade that reader to purchase what he or she is promoting. In order to create an effective advertisement, the author relies on the product’s credibility, uses reasons to convince the reader to buy what he/she is promoting, and attempts to appeal to the reader based on emotion. A way in which this can be achieved is through using three components of writing known as ethos, pathos and logos. As an example to illustrate how these strategies can be used as an effective method of persuasion, I have chosen to analyze an advertisement produced by a travel agency. In the ad, the author’s attempt is to use logos and pathos as his primary means of persuasion but touches on all three components of writing as a method of luring the reader into choosing Texas as the primary choice for a vacation destination. The author’s intent is to rely on this location to represent the travel agency as a source for planning the vacation.

Using ethos is a way of appealing to the reader based on the credibility of the source in which the author is trying to promote. Credibility can be accomplished by using tactics to support reliability. First, the author attempts to establish credibility by relying on tradition and value. He accomplishes this in the advertisement by placing major emphasis on a man wearing a belt buckle. He states, "You look more closely. And see a grapefruit-sized rodeo championship belt buckle, dazzling in the sunlight. And you know at that moment, you must be in Texas" (McCALL p. 87). One may argue that the ad establishes the locatio...

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...pathos is used as the most persuasive form to support the text of the advertisement.

In analyzing the advertisement, it is clear that the author ties all these forms of writing together. In doing so, he hopes to gain the biggest audience by appealing to many different life styles. The author uses persuasion as a tactic, which is used to lure potential vacation hunters in to choosing his place of choice. He presents all forms of writing strategies (ethos, pathos, and logos) in the advertisement with the most concentration on logos and pathos. The author feels that the best way to persuade the audience of choice is to state the facts in the text, and then support those facts by appealing to the emotions, which is accomplished in the picture. In some cases, the author only selects one category of writing, which all depends on what he or she is trying to promote.