So, for school I had an assignment to basically pick apart some sort of advertisement & analyze its arguments. I'm so relieved to have it done & I think it turned out rather decently. I decided I'd share it with you! Here it is:
If you are a responsible, health-conscious adult, you will buy Colgate Total toothpaste. That is what an ad I found in Reader’s Digest suggests, at least.
The article depicts a healthy-looking woman with obviously white teeth smiling. A line extends from her teeth to an outline of her body, which has bullet points on various body parts. The bullet points list ailments such as serious gum disease, heart disease and diabetes. The title text asks, “Healthier mouth, healthier body?” and is followed by a paragraph about how Colgate Total helps protect your body: “Research suggests that the gateway to the health of your body may be your mouth. So it’s good to know Colgate Total actively fights germs for a full 12 hours, which helps to prevent and reduce the gum disease gingivitis. If left unchecked, gingivitis can lead to serious gum disease, which emerging research associates with other diseases like heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Learn more about the health of your mouth and the health of your body at ColgateTotal.com.” There is also an image of a tube of Colgate Total above a line stating that the product, “Actively fights germs for 12 hours.” At the bottom of the page in small print, there is information about how Colgate Total prevents gingivitis but is not approved for preventing or treating serious gum disease. It urges you to talk with a health care professional about mouth-body association and health.
To begin, this advertisement is chock-full of emotional appeal, or pathos. The ad is all about good health and the importance of maintaining a healthy mouth. Everyone wants to live to a ripe old age and this ad outlines one of the ways you can do so. By bringing up undesirable health conditions associated with poor dental health, the ad enlists a sort of soft scare tactic. Strokes and diabetes are things we try to steer clear of. The makers of this ad use their knowledge of human nature to invoke a sense of urgency. We don’t want to die, so we better take care of our teeth.
Some of the word choices in the ad brought my imagination out to play. The line, “Actively fights germs for 12 hours,” had me picturing a good-guy, bad-guy scenario. The nasty germs in my mouth need to be wiped out and Colgate Total is there to fight the battle for me. After picturing this, I was pretty much hooked by the ad. I want someone on my side. Someone like Colgate Total.
The advertisement gains credibility by playing up words like research. The ad alludes to current research about the importance of a healthy mouth, which makes it believable. This also helps with the logos of the argument. The ADA symbol on the tube of toothpaste gives major credibility to the product. The American Dental Association would not endorse this product if it did not work. These things, in addition to the name-brand power of Colgate, give this ad a great amount of credibility.
This ad appeals to its audience in a smart way. The magazine it was published in, Reader’s Digest, is geared toward an older crowd. They are concerned with health, well-being and relationships. The publishers aren’t worried about vanity and fashion. The Colgate Total advertisement takes this into account. The model in the photo isn’t sexy or racy. That’s not what the ad is about. The ad is about making an informed decision and taking control of one’s health. This works well.
Ultimately, Colgate just wants to sell toothpaste. With this ad, they are likely to do so. The advertisement gets to the root of the issue and I believe that most anyone would be on board with this argument. All facets of argument are used well to persuade consumers that this is the toothpaste they need to buy.
