Rhetorical Journal Assignment

I chose the Volkswagen GTI car commercial for my rhetorical analysis. This commercial is set in a warehouse and there are two actors who play host to this game show and one contestant. The contestant’s old car is destroyed and replaced by a new Volkswagen GTI. This commercial emphasizes pathos with little to none emphasis on ethos and logos. This car commercial is targeted towards the younger crowd and tries to toy with their emotion. There is no emphasis on exact facts or reasoning.
This ad is targets a younger crowd, doing so by advertising a car for a younger generation. The first technique used in this advertisement would be the snappy techno beat in the background. This is normally not the music that an advertising agency would use to target an older crowd. The second technique that Volkswagen does to characterize the ad towards the younger crowd are the short sayings. Sayings such as “representing Deutschland”, “dropped it like its hot” and “we are going to un-pimp it” plays towards communicating to a younger crowd.
This advertisement loves to play with the viewer’s emotions. The first technique that this ad uses is the writing on the back of the old car. It says “The Flame” and within seconds this somewhat ‘sexy’ blonde woman takes off the F on the car so it says “The Lame” and she sticks the F on the cars owner. The viewer’s first feeling is that maybe their own car that they once thought was the ‘hot’ thing is no longer. Also the fact that the ‘sexy’ lady slapped an F on your clothing symbolizes that your care fails her tests and you will not get the women in your old car. The next theme is the idea of having a ‘pimped’ car. The main character in this commercial says they are going to ‘un-pimp’ his car and quickly a new Volkswagen with no after-market products replaces his old car. This plays on the emotion that you do not need after market products such as this guy had before to have approval from this ‘hip’ guy and ‘sexy’ blonde. By far the focus of this advertisement is for the pathos. There is only one time where exact fact or logos is used in this commercial. The only direct fact that they state is that the car is pre-tuned by German Engineers.
The only possible fallacy in commercial is the miss-conception that you must upgrade your car to upgrade your status. This is a post hoc fallacy where there is a confusing cause and effect. There are a couple of examples of exaggerated uses of pathos though. The first is the false need, this commercial expresses to the viewer that you need this new GTI in order to maintain your cultural status with friends and family. This leads to the next exaggeration that is the slippery slope. They are trying to make the viewer feel that without this new car they will lose their status as “The Flame” and their social status will collapse. In the end, this commercial is trying to toy with ones emotions while advertising this car. They have little to no credibility and fail to even mention a starting price. It is simply a fun way for consumers to look at replacing their own car based strictly on their own social standing.