Rhetorical Analysis: The Gillette Advertisement Case Study
Name
Institutional affiliation
Date
Businesses are primarily marketed by the use of advertisements ranging from the wobbly cartoon shapes placed outside stores to the theatrically displayed singing and dancing on mainstream television commercials. Ads are aimed at performing a range of roles in the market, but the most significant of all becomes to ensure that there is brand awareness by consumers. Therefore, organizations spend a lot of resources in the creation of advertisements to attract and keep customers. The effect of the ad is highly dependent on the persuading of the audience. An ad can only be termed as good if it encompasses the proper elements of rhetorical appeal. That is, there has to be evidence of pathos, logos, and ethos in the presentation to appeal to all senses of an individual. A commercial that has all the aforementioned rhetorical appeals leads to the creation of an identification of the person with the product leading to a preferential consuming of the product or service being displayed. Consequently, the advertisements that are conducted by Gillette are mostly targeted towards men because of their prominence in the selling of men’s hygiene products. For years, the company has run with the phrase “The Best a Man Can Get.” Recently, there was the launching of the advertisement dubbed “We Believe” that led in the unveiling of the slogan, “The Best a Man Can Be” and it was as controversial as it was inspirational in inspiring change in age-old assumptions on toxic masculinity due to an exemplification of pathos, ethos, and logos.
First, ethos is applicable in the advertisement due to the use of an appeal to ethics. Ethos calls upon the values of the speaker, which means the brand (Gillette), convinces the audience that it is reliable and ethical. To unlock the trust of the viewer, there is the use of a background voice that is authoritative and convincing. Besides, by standing with the #MeToo movement, Gillette builds trust that the profits are going to an important cause. Krulder (2018) notes, “Ads are pervasive, and although students are often aware that they’re being influenced, knowing how persuasion works gives them a whole new power to understand and affect their world.” The company was seeking to show the moral obligation that the current generation has in the training of the younger boys to be what the best they can be. In a reiteration of the toxic masculinity traits like cat-calling, open disrespect for women, bullying, an undermining of the ideas of the other gender in the corporate world, and fighting, the advertisement gains credibility. The ad begins with the questioning of its viewers, “Is this the best a man can get?)(Topping, Lyons, and Weaver(2019). What follows is a series of traditional societal expectations of the behavior of men and then. Also, these traits are mirroring the imagery of everyday people’s experiences, which makes the audience feel like it is sensible.
What’s more, what makes the advertisement phenomenal is the use of pathos, that is, the appeal to the deep emotions of the viewer. Every heart needs to be won in the creation of such an advertisement that questions social constructions. By the use of pathos, there is an expected connection that the viewer feels in terms of senses, nostalgia, shared experiences, and memory. A pull of the heartstrings is invoked by the child that is facing bullying thus does not run off from school like the others but goes crying in the arms of his mother. Also, the woman whose shoulder is patted and ideas reiterated shows dissatisfaction with the move. Clemens (2019) comments, “The first time I watched the video, I teared up. It wasn’t because I thought all gendered violence would stop; it was because I felt like I was watching a sea change.” Furthermore, the invoking of emotion meant that there is the summoning of the consumer-driven culture to buy products due to reactions to underlying feelings. Besides, Gillette uses trigger specific phrasing of words such as the description of a victim of bullying by the aggressors as’ “freak,” “loser,” “you are such a loser”(Gillette 2019). In addition, the instrumentation in the background is subtle enough to allow for the interchanging of voices of the presenter and other characters. Yet, it plays a role in creating a calming of the listener to focus on the ad’s message. While the entire advertisement employs unpleasant emotions at the start, then goes on to invite positivity and encouragement that an association with Gillette will mean participation in changing of toxic norms.
On the other hand, the advertisement uses logos as a persuasive modus operandi that convinces that audience by use of reasoning and logical explanation. There is the use of the historical phrasing that is used in justification of toxic traits, that is, the saying that “boys will be boys.” The excuse is seen to allow for men to behave in a manner that is otherwise considered to be uncouth and unfair to those that fall victim to these behaviors. Therefore, there is a pattern of behavior that is observed and highlighted throughout the advertisement. There is an appeal to the reasonableness and logical consequence of an argument (Kiholm and Gårdemyr 2017). After all, the ad is for no use if it does not appeal to the receiver to make their interpretation. However, it is the different reasoning that has led to the controversy in the commercial. Those for the advertisement believe that it is not anti-male but an appeal to the human qualities of everyone. On one side, there is an applauding audience that believes Gillette was bold enough to tackle assumptions of masculinity. On the flip side of the coin, there is reasoning that it is filled with false suppositions of how men behave. Also, the fighting and bullying scenes are an interpretation of men as wild and dangerous sex. Notably, it is these controversial statements that have led to the making of the advertisement popular, which means it did appeal to the logos of the audience.
Subsequently, the recent launching of the advertisement dubbed “We Believe” was part of a rebranding effort by Gillette by the unveiling of the new slogan, “The Best a Man Can Be.” The advertisement was as controversial as it was inspirational in inspiring change in age-old assumptions on toxic masculinity due to an exemplification of pathos, ethos, and logos. What’s more, the advertisement uses its rhetorical appeal to question toxic masculinity, thus sparking contrasting reactions in the product market. On the other hand, it is a significant step towards effecting social change, which subsequently increases its market value and social positioning.
References
CLEMENS, C. (2019, January 16). Gillette’s new ad asks: “Is toxic masculinity the best a man can get?”. Teaching Tolerance. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/gillettes-new-ad-asks-is-toxic-masculinity-the-best-a-man-can-get
Gillette. (2019, January 14). We Believe: The Best Men Can Be | Gillette (Short Film) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0
Kiholm, M., & Gårdemy, A. (2017). The strategic use of rhetorical proofs in transformational advertising. Master of Science in Business Administration, 15 ECTS, International Business and Marketing.
Krulder, J. (2018, February 20). ‘Bad ads’ and the study of rhetoric. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/bad-ads-and-study-rhetoric
Weaver, M., Topping, A., & Lyons, K. (2019, January 17). Gillette #MeToo razors ad on ‘toxic masculinity’ gets praise – and abuse. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/15/gillette-metoo-ad-on-toxic-masculinity-cuts-deep-with-mens-rights-activists