The Ambien
CR advertisement is an interesting work of rhetoric. With the use of ethos,
pathos, and logos, this sleeping pill commercial presents a sophisticated
visual argument – “this stuff is great, buy it now.”
A woman
wakes up in the middle of the night in a small, empty room. A rooster is
sitting in front of her. This bird is symbolic for insomnia – an issue this
woman has been struggling with for a while. She gets up and goes to work. The
woman just sits there, silently staring at the bird, while her co-workers throw
pitiful glances in her way.
The
colors surrounding her are dull, lifeless; the motion of the camera is slow,
with long, immobile shots. Everything is constructed in the way to give the
viewer a feeling of this woman’s hopelessness. We all have those days when we can’t
sleep, or go to bed too late, or wake up too early – it usually feels terrible
the next day. The creators of the advertisement play on this tiredness, and as
the audience begins to feel bad for the woman on the screen, they utilize
pathos as a way to sell the product.
When
Ambien CR pills are finally introduced, the setting immediately changes. The
color scheme is now brighter than ever, the woman is smiling and her face looks
rested, even rejuvenated. She wakes up in a large room with white walls, and,
to her surprise, the rooster is gone. “The pills work!” – says the woman’s
facial expression. This detail acts as ethos – “Look how refreshed she looks;
we [consumers] want to look (feel) like that too!”
Logos
plays an important role in this advertisement as well. During the clip,
narrator describes how this medication works, its benefits, as well as
potential side-effects. They don’t lie about possible consequences –dependency,
dizziness, depression – and this approach can either attract or scare away consumers.
The majority, though, might appreciate the honesty and contact their doctor to
find out more.
Through
this advertisement, Ambien CR gives a bit of hope to people who struggle with
insomnia. The use of pathos, ethos, and logos is effective and works well with
the concept and plot of the commercial, and as a whole, this commercial is a
successful visual argument.
I agree with your claim that the director of the commercial used ethos, pathos, and logos in order to produce an effective advertisement for the product Ambien Cr. For the most part, I agree with every aspect of your argument, such as when you said that the rooster symbolized insomnia, and when you mentioned that colors affect the mood of the entire video. These small yet crucial details in the advertisement assisted in the selling of the main product. I believe in what you mentioned, that pathos in the commercial was used to clarify the fact that exhaustion is very common, and no one would want to deal with that, and the part where you mentioned ethos, that one would want to look like the person on the screen, selling the product. These rhetorical devices of pathos and ethos were extremely important and appropriate to promote the sales of Ambien Cr. However, with all this being said, I'd like to disagree with your claim on logos. When you mentioned that when the side effects were being introduced, they were being honest, and this might've led to attracting or scaring away customers, or other people may appreciate the honesty. Whilst you claim that the honesty was on purpose, in order to appeal to the audience, I believe that the honesty was implemented in order for the company not to get sued. In the advertisement, the side effects were mentioned rapidly, with the assistance of a bright background to light up the mood. This implementation of side effects was included in order for the company to have a statement to back them up, so that if customers complain about the product, they could not say that they weren't word. I think this is why the logos was implemented, not due to your claim that they wanted to be honest. Although with this being said, I completely agree with your statement about the side effects having the potential to scare away the viewers. To propose a question to you, do you think that the implementation of ethos was very effective, or even necessary, in the visual?
ReplyDelete~Jessica Wong