Mulholland 1

Christopher Mulholland
WR 13300
Dr. McLaughlin
2 November 2015
Companion Paper for Satirical Video
In this project, the intent was to explore the use of the rhetoric of satire, as detailed by
Dustin Griffin, in the context of a short commercial. The result was a Horatian satire that made
fun of the feud between North and South dining halls at Notre Dame, exaggerating minor
differences and making use of the rhetoric of a satirical public safety announcement. We brought
in influences from other PSA type videos, such as the Building Community the Notre Dame
Way videos, as well as images from social media and the music included in the video editing
software. Embedded in this humorous satire is an underscoring message for students at Notre
Dame to quite the fruitless dining hall feud and simply go to whichever dining hall their hearts
desire.
Satire is a powerful rhetorical tool, far reaching in its influence on an audience. There are
two categories of satire that have been defined: Juvenalian and Horatian. Juvenalian satire is a
harsh, abrasive challenge to a problem, often making the audience feel uncomfortable. It relies
on an assumption that the offender has a sense of guilt, drawing from the pathos of the issue. A
Horatian satire, on the other hand is more lighthearted, poking fun at a social vice and perhaps
causing offenders to realize the folly in their actions. However, Dustin Griffin writes in Satire, A
Critical Reintroduction that Horatian satire is considerably more diverse than laughter at folly
(Griffin 8). Indeed, he points out that satire has been developing for years with many complex
strategies. We chose to do a Horatian satire because we felt that it would have a better effect on

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the intended audience, that is, the students at Notre Dame. The problem we were addressing is
not a significant moral issue or social injustice, and an offender is not likely to feel guilty about
making jokes about another dining hall. Thus, the most appropriate response was to fight humor
with humor.
In his introduction to The History and Theory of Rhetoric James Herrick lays out five
basic aspects of a rhetorical piece. He says that it is 1) planned, 2) adapted to an audience, 3)
shaped by human motives, 4) responsive to a situation, and 5) persuasion seeking (Herrick 7-8).
Given its intended purpose of being a satirical PSA, this rhetorical work was undoubtedly
planned and persuasion seeking, with the intended purpose of sending a message to students to
stop comparing dining halls or stereotyping those who prefer one or the other. In reality there is
not really much of a feud between the dining halls. In fact, it would not come as a surprise if
some students had never heard of anyone criticizing a particular dining hall. However, while
many students do alternate between them, there are portions of the student population that are
religious about eating at just one. It happens that we hear complaints about someone having to
eat at his or her less favored dining facility. Some social media sites such as Yik Yak are a
venting place for angry consumers to trash on North or South. Our response to this was to
exaggerate the dining hall loyalties and make them into cults of students who refuse to fraternize
with the other group. In doing so we included aspects for the intended audience of Notre Dame
students, particularly those who are passionate about one dining facility or the other.
The video begins with a host giving an introduction to the dining situation. It is subtle,
but the format of this introduction is made to spoof the BCND videos that every freshman
student had to watch for orientation. The marimba music in the background, the hand gestures
and the God Quad backdrop may seem familiar to these students. By doing this, we bring in the

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impressions the students already have about those videos and draw them in with the reminiscent
cheesy style. This also adds to the satirical features of the video. The BCND videos were made to
bring to light actual social issues that exist on campus, such as racial prejudice or gender
relations. To have one about dining hall gangs is laughable. At the the same time though, it hints
at the point that some students act like ones dining hall preference is a defining characteristic,
equally important to their race or gender! The assumption that is made here is that any student
would find it ridiculous to make such a video.
The next section shows the consequences of attending the wrong dining hall,
characterizing students as Southerners or Northerners and furthering the exaggeration that
has already begun by relating the situation to the Civil War. In this scene we include familiar
differences and complaints students have about the two dining halls, such as the different tray
sizes, the confusing lines, or the NOT AN EXIT sign in South over what clearly looks like an
exit. Some of these problems, such as the lines, are legitimate, but others are exaggerations. We
show a Southerner attempting to sit down at a table and instead getting stared down by the
hostile Northerners. The music in each of these scenes is important as well, signaling a slowpaced, easy going North Dining hall and an often busy, confusing South. We hoped this scene
would reach those who complain about these differences and perhaps make them realize that
they are not so significant.
In the next section the exaggeration goes even further as the dining hall feud becomes a
gang war. We display pictures from social media, some of which are real though others were
made for the purposes of this video. There is a warning about gang activity and even a clip of
students flashing S signs as the pass on the quad. One can glimpse a fake Facebook group for
the North dining hall gang. These scenes were made to critique the dining hall criticisms on

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social media sites, particularly YikYak. The idea of dining hall gangs is ridiculous, and the
intention is to once again exaggerate the cults that exist around each dining facility by relating it
to a real, more serious issue. We warn students to report gang activity and give the typical PSA
slogan: Only you can prevent . The number for NDSP flashes on the screen, mimicking
many other safety announcements. The assumption is that students do not actually call the
number, but find humor in the unnecessary warnings and get the underlying message to stop
exaggerating the differences between the dining halls and their attendees.
The final section is a cameo from Notre Dame athletes advocating for the cause. This
puts the nail in the coffin in terms of exaggeration, as the athletes warn students to stick to their
dining halls and to not engage in any way with members of the other dining hall. It is made to
mimic other PSAs that borrow the ethos of celebrities such as athletes to send a more persuasive
message. The puns, stick to your turf and dont get served are cheesy and typical of a PSA.
Expected elements of public safety announcements such as these add to the satirical nature of the
video. There are adapted to the audience that is familiar with these types of videos, as well as
campus commonalities.
The expression of a satirical PSA is one that is planned and persuasive, and by Herricks
definition it is a rhetorical work. Our intent was to point out the ridiculousness of dining hall
disputes and criticism, particularly classifying students by dining hall preference. The use of
exaggeration, mood-setting music, and borrowed aspects from typical PSAs all formed the
persuasive argument. While satirical, the end message is concrete: stick to whichever dining hall
you prefer, and dont bother others about it!

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Works Cited
Griffin, Dustin. Satire, A Critical Reintroduction. U of Kentucky, 1994. Print.
Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn
and Beacon, 2001. Print.