Rhetorical Forces: The Application and Implication in Advertisement of Drug Industry

Rhetorical Forces: The Application and Implication in Advertisement of Drug Industry

“Rhetoric” is the art of language that is primarily used to persuade or influence particular audiences emotionally rather than logically (Wikipedia, 2020). It is widely used in fields like business, politics, and medicines. With the development of the modern world, rhetorical forces also play an essential role in the advertisement industry. In this paper, I will focus on the application of this tactic in the drug advertisement part. Moreover, further influences of using the rhetorical device in the propaganda of drugs and the comparison to Judy. Z. Segal’s article is provided. I will also present three examples of Shuanghuanglian oral liquid companies, pills used to lose weight, and anti-aging skincare products.

In the article “Sex, drugs, and rhetoric,” Judy. Z. Segal illustrates how Flibanserin, which is a drug used to treat the sexual disorder of women, used rhetoric strategy to persuade FDA for its approval even though the drug was not convincingly safe or effective(Segal, J. Z., 2015). She described how a pharmaceutical company recruited and then ventriloquized, both health professionals and members of the public to pressure the FDA to approve a sex drug for women (Segal, J. Z., 2015). They claim that not doing so was evidence of sexism. Flibanserin used the rhetorical force to get support from the general public and thus convince the FDA emotionally rather than logically. In this paper, I want to talk about how drug industries like Shuang Huang Lian oral liquid, weight loss, and anti-age companies use the rhetoric device to advertise their products, rather than getting approvals. Furthermore, the effects of using this tactic to promote will also be illustrated. Thus, I can fill the knowledge gap.

Rhetoric forces are widely used in the weight loss industry. Advertisers are always trying to convince the customers that extent physical appearance has ever played an essential role in our society. Attractive people are more likely to have successful lives. Hence in such a shallow community, it is not surprising that people want themselves to look thinner (Anelisa Matas López, 2015). Advertisers also tend to post rhetorical questions to stimulate women’s desire to lose weight, which can substantiate the product‘s goodness. For example, they will state, “have you ever looked at your body and wanted to cry?” or “sick of feeling guilty and overweight?” (Anelisa Matas López, 2015) These claims are intended to encourage people to consume by stressing how miserable their lives are. And thus, they can convince people to take weight loss pills emotionally rather than logically. But the effects of weight loss pills are also significant. In a study conducted by the University of Virginia Medical Center, Sixty obese subjects were recruited to take weight loss products with strict control and treatment groups. According to Richard and Atkinson (1985), within 24 hours, the subjects started complaining of vomiting and nausea; almost all of them had some changes, and this is anxiety, depression, and mental acuity. Few of them portrayed also had headaches, nervousness, vomiting, and lethargy (Richard L. Atkinson, 1985).

As the coronavirus hits China, an article was published by the Chinas state press that argues that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Shanghai Institute of Material Medical had found that 2019-CoV can be inhibited by shuaghuanglia oral liquid. On January 31 (Zhang Zhihao, 2020). Soon after that, Medias spread this breaking news massively. It has become the number 1 news in Weibo Trending for many hours. The public has been convinced that taking Shuang Huang Lian oral liquid can prevent them from getting the virus. Photos of people queuing up at their local pharmacies at night to buy the remedy went viral on Chinese social media. Searching for the medicine on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD, and Suning has yielded no results, meaning the product has either sold out or been pulled from the platform(Cornelia Zou,2020). But can the solution prevent the virus? Symptoms like sore throat, cough, and sore throat are reduced using Shuanghuanglian. It was widely known for many side effects such as skin rashes, itching, vomiting, and diarrhea.

SIMM released a statement, “there’s a need for further clinical studies to establish the truth” on February 1. It turns out that the effectiveness and safety of Shuang Huang Lian have not been confirmed, but the public has been convinced to buy them. What are the effects? The Shuang Huang Lian oral liquid company benefited a lot. The stock price of the Shuang Huanglian liquid company had surged by 17 percent (Elise Mak, 2020). But this caused substantial adverse effects to the general public. People who took this drug believed that it could cure the virus, but it actually won’t. This false belief lowered people’s alertness to the infection, thus potentially putting their lives in danger. Indeed, a woman has been confirmed to have corona-19 on February 14 because she walked to the pharmacy to buy the solution (Weibo, 2020).

The application of rhetoric strategy can also be widened to the anti-age supplements industry.” scientific Breakthrough,” or ”Ancient Remedy” or “Exclusive products” or “Secret Ingredient” are common words used by advertisers. These phrases can trigger customers’ desire to buy the product emotionally rather than logically (Thomas T. Perls, 2004). Recruiting well-known celebrities who merely out to make money can also be a rhetorical way to promote products. Celebrity endorsers are mostly used in the US for advertisement, and they do almost 25% of the advertisement in the country. And this how firms in the US have bought into the premise that celebrities create a positive impact on the consumers, and they will promote the brand so quickly than any other using other forms of advertisement (Katikati, 1987). Goldsmith et at (2000) had researched using celebrities in the advertisement, and they argued that using stars for publication can lead to improvement of companies financial status of the company. Different from the examples I provided above, people can benefit a lot from taking anti-age supplements. Producers will add victim C, E, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha lipoic acid, Chromium, L-carnitine, and Quercetin to their products (Michael Janson, 2006). These components can be used to reduce the wrinkling and sagging of the skin that occurs with aging. But the functions may not as strong and magical as the media described. Rhetorical force is only a way for the company to advertise its products. People should have the ability to tell distinguish the effects of the products.

Compare to the article that Segal writes, which talks about the usage of rhetoric force in getting the FDA’s approval of Flibersrin; I introduced the application and implication of rhetorical power in the advertisement of drugs. Advertisers from the weight loss industry tend to use the rhetoric device to make people less confident about their body shape, thus convincing them to buy the products. Shuang Huang Lian oral liquid company persuades the public emotionally that the product can prevent coronavirus. The anti-age supplement industry assures customers by saying exaggerated effects and hiring celebrities to promote their products. The impact of using rhetoric strategy to advertise can be positive or negative, as I examined.

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