Unit 15: Advertising Production

Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)

Preparation work
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ETHOS, PATHOS LOGOS – Persuasive Advertising Techniques

In order to complete LA.P3 and work towards a Merit/Distinction grade, you
need to have better knowledge and understanding of the persuasive techniques
used in advertising. Please use the weblink below and complete the following
tasks.

Introduction Task
Click on the triangular image below and watch the intro video explaining the
three main advertising techniques (Ethos, Pathos and Logos)

Task 1: Advertising techniques (Ethos)

Read through the section on ETHOS and answer the following questions.
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ethos-pathos-logos/ (you may need to
copy and paste into your browser if the link does not work)

1. What is an Ethos persuasive advertising technique?

An ethos persuasive advertising technique is adverts that use celebrities and

famous known figures to promote their product. Doing this will persuade many
people who would know this person into buying their product which is used and
approved by celebrities. Ethos advertising is usually shown to convince the
product is good by higher figures in society and they make sure the person is
trustworthy to capture the audience’s trust.
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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2. Explain why using a celebrity endorsement in an advert would be an
example of an ethos persuasive technique.

Using a celebrity endorsement in an advert would be an example of an ethos

persuasive technique because the whole point of these adverts are to gain the
audiences trust in order to get them to buy the product. By achieving this they
use well known celebrities to gain a large audiences attention showing that what
is being promoted by them is approved by them meaning it should be good and
very reliable to use.

3. Ethos rhetoric is also used to tie a brand to fundamental rights. Brands

build trust with their audience when they stand with an important cause.
Watch the following adverts for Gillette and Audi and explain how ethos is
being used to tie the brand to a particular social cause?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iksaFG6wqM

In the first advert, the Gillette advert it starts off with men staring at
themselves in a mirror and the speech that was said in the beginning was ‘is
this the best a man can get’. This adverts in a way manipulates the male
target audience by questioning there worth and how to be a better man in
society by using narration. It makes them question who they are as a person
which is how ethos is being used to persuade them. We can tell by this advert
that it is aimed at men as it is questioning their manliness and worth from the
beginning as we could see three men staring at themselves and throughout
the advert majority of people is men figures. Throughout the video they use a
very sensitive topic which was sexual assault to inform men that they can be
better and not all men are like that for example in one part a line of men say
in unison ‘boys will be boy’. These words are persuasive and would make
them think not every man is the same.

In the Audi advert the people shown are kids but specifically a girl who is in a
race in a car. However, they show other kids who are men but the girl is the
main character in the advert. Using males and females shows that this care is
aimed for both men and females. One stereotype this advert represents is
that males are more likely to drive but they are showing a female driver
beating men in a race implying that women can also drive better than men
which is represented through narration. The girl looks determined to win and
happy making the audience feel happy for her as well. Although the message
is that women are as good as driving than men it is persuading the audience
that this car is suitable for both male and females. What both of these adverts
have in common is that they try to show equality in both male and the female
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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audience by making us viewers feel relatable as it makes us realise this is
what is happening in society.

4. The use of the ‘Plain Folks’ technique also falls under the category of
Ethos. Explain what the ‘plain folk’s technique is and how it aims to
appeal to the audience.

The plain folks technique falls under the category of ethos advertising
techniques. This technique is when the spokesperson in the advert is shown to
look average and relatable to the target audience from looking the same to
appeal to the audience. In most cases they would be average people wearing
simple clothes just like us and the message is something that anyone would go
through.

5. Watch the following Hillary Clinton political election advert and explain
how the technique of ‘Plain Folks’ is being used to appeal to voters.

Task 2: Advertising techniques (PATHOS)

Read through the section on PATHOS and answer the following questions.
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ethos-pathos-logos/
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
Name:

the plain folks technique is used and shown in this advert to appeal to the
audience. This is shown in the beginning when Hillary Clinton is sat down talking
about her life and family. They show pictures of her and her family from her
childhood as she looks like any ordinary girl. This is relatable to most of the
target audience because most people would have an ordinary life from childhood
just like her. This advert gives an example of how she started from the bottom
just like everyone else and achieved her goals by working hard in law school.
This advert would be linked to pathos advertising because it relates to the
audience and makes us feel in a way proud to be in education just like Hillary.
Towards the end she represents herself as a grandmother also showing she has a
normal life just like everyone else.

Again, as we continue in the advert we see photos of her in relatable settings

such as schools. This involves the target audience as we’ve all been in some sort
of education. Going back to the part where she represents herself to us as a
grandmother, she is shown holding a baby, this scene is made to draw the
audiences attention to make her known as an average citizen just like us while
she’s achieves many accomplishments into getting her to the position she is in
from education. It in a way gives us, the audience hope that anyone can be
successful by working hard.

1. What is a Pathos persuasive advertising technique?

A pathos persuasive advertising technique is an advert or technique that

convinces an audience through using emotions. This is used to invoke sympathy
from a target audience to make them feel what the message wants them to feel
and this is done through different ways. A few ways this is done is emotional
events shown in the advert and stories which pathos adverts would most likely
be about. Pathos can be developed by using meaningful language, emotional tone
and more.

2. What types of basic human emotions does the PATHOS persuasive

technique play on?

Some types of basic human emotions pathos plays on is memory, for example
most times they talk about family relating to the audience.
Nostalgia is a type of human emotion pathos plays on, this is affection shown for
a period in the past meaning it brings remembrance to the audience.
Final one is shared experiences, often if the audience can relate to the experience
it will get them more engaged.

3. Watch the following Honey Nut Cheerios advert and view the coke print
advert. How are images and language used to evoke positive feelings in
the audience that are then attributed to the brand/product?
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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In the coke print advert, they use images and language to evoke positive feelings
in the audience. One way they have done this is from the slogan, it says ‘open a
coke, open happiness’ meaning drinking this product will make you feel happier.
Using the word ‘happiness’ instantly gives the audience a positive feel about this
print advert. The image is a close up of the coke bottle and in the background is a
field with a bright clear sky implying it is a good day giving the viewers an idea
that it is positive because of how nice the weather is looking. This links to the
idea that when the weather is nice more people are happier and in a good mood
however, when the weather is bad and raining it gives a more sad and depressed
impression to people. The main message to this print ad is if you drink a bottle of
coke, it will make you feel better. They make the drink look attractive to the
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
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audience as the bottle has water droplets on it meaning the bottle is nice, cool
and refreshing which everyone loves.

In the honey nut cheerios advert, the images and language is also used to evoke
positive feelings towards the audience. One way this is shown is by the use of
bright colours used in the advert such as yellow. Yellow represents happiness,
enlightenment and joy. The colour also links to honey because honey is yellow,
this advert is saying that eating this product will make you feel happier. The
audience are being encouraged to buy this product being promoted through the
nature of the advert because of the bees and flowers shown. The fact that they
use an animated bee to represent this product implies that it is attracting kids to
enjoy this product as most kids like cartoons it will attract them.

4. As well as evoking positive emotions such as happiness in the

audience, pathos advertisements can also employ unpleasant
emotions like fear and worry just as effectively. Watch the
following British Heart Foundation advert. Identify the
emotions it evokes in the audience and how it uses them to get
its message across.

In this advert it contrasts both happy and sad moments. This is shown in the
beginning when it starts of as a happy moment of family and friends coming
together on a wedding day which is meant to be a happy and special day.
However, an accident happens where the sister of the women getting married
has a heart attack and dies in front of her. The mood rapidly changes and turns
into a sad message to make viewers understand that anything can happen to
anyone at any time. The emotions that this company, the British heart foundation
invokes is sadness and grief and fear of dying from this problem of having a heart
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
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attack. It is giving a sad message to the audience to show reality and what can
actual happen like I said before at any time. While in the beginning the woman is
talking to us with laughing in the background we assume everything is fine and
cheerful until she walks inside walking over to her deceased body on the floor
giving us a fear and a warning.

5. View the BMW print advert below. Identify the emotions it evokes in the
audience and how it uses them to get its message across.

In this advert the emotions it evokes is empathy and for the audience to
empathise for those who have been in accidents while driving. In this advert
print the logan is ‘spare parts for humans are not as original as those for cars…’
this means that cars look good with new parts however it wouldn’t be the same
for humans. In the image it is shown prosthetic legs and in the bottom of the
advert it says ‘don’t drink and drive’. This is giving a message that it is dangerous
to drink and drink and this is possibly a consequence that could happen to
someone by doing this. This advert is also a bmw advert which means that the
message they’re giving the audience is that if you drive a bmw you will be safer.

6. Sex appeal is of course also hugely successful among the pathos

advertising techniques. Although the common expression “sex sells” has
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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been debated, sexually provocative adverts do leave a lasting
impression. 

Watch the Tide (2017) advert below. How has sex appeal been used in the
advert to create humour?

In this advert sex appeal has been used to create humour. One way this
was shown by the way the man was dancing. The man in white was
sexualized by the way he was dancing to try impress/attracting the
women, also the female audience. For most woman although he is trying
to dance in an attractive way for most woman, we would find it funny as
he is in a way embarrassing himself. The message to this advert is that
through using this product you will find pleasure as it is an easy cleaning
product to use, you will also have fun with using this product.

7. Adverts that use Nostalgia (happy memories) as a persuasive technique

are examples of Pathos advertising. Adverts that are set in the past or
based around the family or happy childhood memories tend to evoke
happy feel good emotions in the audience that the advert tries to connect
to the brand or product it is promoting.

Watch the 2019 Sky Christmas advert. How is Nostalgia being used as a
persuasive technique? Which emotions are being evoked in the audience
to promote the Sky brand? How is intertextuality being used to appeal to
the audience?

In this advert nostalgia is being used as a persuasive technique to appeal

to the audience. It is used to evoke the feelings of happiness around the
time of Christmas and being with family. Intertextuality has been used in
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
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this advert as it links the movie E.T. into the advert which is a very known
film by many people reaching this advert to a wider ranged audience.
They link the movie into this advert in a way recreating some parts that
will make the audience remember their favorite scenes from the film
making them look back in the past on happy memories and childhood.
This ad is specifically aimed at families as the movie E.T is more of a
Christmas movie families would watch together around that time. In the
end it says ‘reconnect this Christmas’ which may be appealing to viewers
because it is saying if you have a good branded Wi-Fi you will be able to
enjoy Christmas and watching films with your family which is why they
linked a famous film to the video. Having good Wi-Fi and enjoying films
with family around this time will bring them happiness.

8. The Bandwagon appeal is another technique that comes under Pathos

advertising. What is Bandwagon advertising?

Bandwagon advertising is another technique that comes under pathos. Using this
technique it creates the impression to the audience that using the product being
promoted will make you feel superior and better than most people. It will want
to make you feel included and apart of a group and to feel cool. It links to the
pathos technique because it makes viewers feel the fear of being left out.

9. Watch the Old Spice The Man your Man Could smell Like’ advert (2010).
The male protagonist uses direct mode of address to the girlfriend of the
male target audience who has not yet purchased the Old Spice product.
Explain why this is effective in targeting the male audience.
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
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In this advert the man uses direct mode of address to the girlfriends of the
male target audience who haven’t yet bought this product. This advert is
effective to the male target audience because the man makes us focus a lot
on him throughout the whole advert and he says ‘sadly he isn’t me’. He is
talking to the female audience when he says this phrase however, most
men would probably want to be better than him as it questions their
masculinity on how the man in the advert is better than the male audience
and it will make them want to be more attractive to the partners. Because
this is mainly targeted for females to buy their partners this shows that
them buying the product would want to see benefits in using the product
to make them look more attractive and also smell good using this. It
makes males question their masculinity and how they can be better to
there partners by buying them anything they want. This is shown in the
scene when he turns tickets into diamonds implying to the females that if
you buy this product the males will spoil you with anything you want.

10. Explain how the Old Spice advert uses Bandwagon appeal to target the
primary male audience? You could also consider how the bandwagon
technique is used to appeal to the primary male and secondary female
audience.

The old spice advert uses bandwagon in many ways to appeal to target the
primary male audience. One way they have done this was when the man in the
advert saids ‘sadly he isn’t me’. This would make the males want to be better and
it implies that if they buy this product, they will be more superior. Towards the
end of the advert, he says while using direct mode of address ‘smell like a man,
man’. It clearly shows he is talking to the primary male audience also implying
that if you use this product, you will smell good and be more of a man making
males question their manliness. This advert also applies to the secondary female
audience. Going back to when he said ‘sadly he isn’t me’, it will make them want
to be more like him as he is represented as an attractive masculine man who
spoils a female with e.g diamonds that where shown in the advert and ‘two
tickets to that thing you love’, meaning if men use this product they will give you
everything you want and be more like the man in the advert who is represented
as a ‘perfect’ male figure to society.
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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11. Use of humour to evoke positive lighthearted emotions in the audience is

another technique that is a good example of Pathos advertising. Watch the
AXE ‘Meet the Parents’ (2012) advert below and consider how sex appeal
as well as humour is being used to promote the body spray to the male
audience.

This advert uses sex appeal as well as humour to promote the body spray to the
male audience. One way sex appeal has been used to promote this product is
when we think he is introducing one girl but instead he introduces more to his
parents. This connotes that using this spray will make him more attractive to
females by smelling good with this product. It also connotes that it will make you
feel or look more attractive in females’ eyes just by using this spray. Going back
to humour, this is also shown in the product by how the parents reacted. In the
beginning we think it is a normal advert of him introducing his girlfriend to his
parents however, when we think he is finished he introduces more girls that we
don’t expect including the parents which makes it funny because they look
shocked and confused at the same time. By the amount of girls he brings in this
also links to the sex appeal as it implies he can get any girl he wants with this
product.
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
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Task 3: Advertising techniques (LOGOS)

Read through the section on LOGOS and answer the following questions.
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ethos-pathos-logos/

1. What is Logos advertising?

Logos advertising is used to give the audience information about the product
using facts and statistics. This technique is effective because it is very persuasive
that aims to convince the audience by using a lot of knowledge. These adverts are
used to persuade the audience that the product is good to use usually by showing
demonstrations to make it more convincing.

2. Watch the apple iphone X advert. Give examples of how it uses Logos
advertising techniques to appeal to the audience.

In this iphone x advert it uses many ways of the logos advertising technique to
appeal to the audience. One way it does this is by first of all showing the product
and all the features such as how it doesn’t have a home button it zooms in to see
how its just a clear screen with no buttons needed to use this product.
Throughout the advert it zooms into different features including the camera
showing the audience how it is clear, and the camera quality is good to make it
more appealing to the audience. It gives us many facts all in one video to make it
more appealing because it shows the product is so good it has many things other
phones can’t do or don’t have.
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
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3. Logos advertising often uses memorable buzzwords to sell the product.

Great examples of this are advertisements for food. In recent years there
has been a rising demand for companies trying to cash in on the
consumer’s demand for healthier food options.

Watch the advert below for ‘I Can’t believe it’s not butter’ (2017) and
identify the buzzwords used to make the product more appealing to the
target audience.

Buzzwords are a word or phrase that doesn’t have much meaning

however, it becomes popular and catchy to the viewers. In this advert
they use buzzwords such as
Unit 15: Advertising Production
Persuasive techniques in Advertising (Ethos,Pathos,Logos)
Preparation work
Name: