Persuasion: Everything is not What it Seems (Blogpost 6)

Rhetoric is the art or study of persuasion. However, to fully understand that, we must first understand exactly what persuasion is. In its simplest sense, persuasion is, as stated by Aristotle, “an instrument for giving effectiveness to truth.” It is a form of communication intended to influence the decision making of others. According to Simons, there are three important aspects of persuasion that set it apart from other types of influence:

  1. An intent to persuade
  2. Communication
  3. The subject is ultimately invited to make their own choice

These three “rules of persuasion” really just mean that effective persuasion is conducted purposefully, and in a way that does not force someone’s hand, rather convinces them to make what they think is a decision in their best interest. These rules are important because they set persuasion apart from deception. While persuasion is based in truth, deception is not. Deception is passing off lies as fact in an attempt to influence a decision maker to choose against their best interest.

Pushing this distinction further, this means that that persuasion is not coercion, nor material incentives, and especially does not include the pressure to conform to a group. The previous characteristics do not ultimately allow for individuals to make their own conclusions, a distinguishing factor of persuasion. This is important in advertising as persuasion is a useful tool in acquiring new customers. However, there is a line between persuasion and deception in advertising that is not always as clear as one would think. There are rules in place to account for this, but they are not always effective.

Sonesson studies how a tool like persuasion is used in advertising and how both parties, the influencer and the influencee, effect the outcome. He does so by analyzing two different brands, Absolut and IKEA, a Vodka and furniture company, respectively. While both are Swedish brands, one uses persuasion to hide this, while the other uses it to embrace it.

In the “European City” campaign, Absolut uses imagery associated with different European cities, and therefore different discourses, to suggest similarity and connection in culture. Absolut successfully sheds any associations with Russia and Vodka, as well as with Sweden, and instead persuades viewers to associate the product and brand with their own heritage. An example of the “Absolut Rome” bottle can be seen below. The shape of the Vesa scooter, a symbol almost synonymous with Rome, is the same shape as the Absolut bottle, another very iconic symbol. In this picture, with no mentions of Sweden, Absolut is able to take on the culture of Rome.

The Swedish furniture brand IKEA was found to have done the exact opposite with their advertising campaign. Rather than hide their Swedish identity, they embrace it, kind of… While they find additional value in their Swedish roots, the image that they are conveying is not exactly accurate. They project a view of Sweden that most of the world holds to be true, but in reality and to all Swedes, is inaccurate. However, playing off of the idea that most people have of Sweden in their minds, IKEA emphasizes that their furniture is made in Sweden, unlike most other companies in the world can claim.

While these forms of advertising not representing something accurately, they can still be classified as persuasion because they are rooted in truths. Weather the truths come from a completely different geographic location or the minds of unaware people, they are still based in truth. Additionally, they are not concocted to try and get people to act against their best interests. Like it or not, this is still a very common theme in advertising today.

A recent example of persuasive advertising that is not represented in a totally accurate way is Blue Moon. This is a beer brewed by Blue Moon Brewing Co, a subsidiary of MillerCoors, a massive multinational brewing company. Blue Moon’s advertising tries to portray the beer as a craft beer when in reality, it is mass produced. This is an attempt to capitalize on the craft beer frenzy currently occurring in the United States. Someone actually attempted to sue them for this, however, a judge dismissed the case. An example of their persuasive advertising can be found in the video below.

Coffee with a Splash of Misogyny (Blogpost 5)

I will be analyzing a 1960’s Folger’s Coffee ad, which can be seen below (it is the first of the two ads in the video). This ad is very representative of advertising in the 50’s and 60’s, shifting the focus away from the product itself and towards the consumer. It is ripe with influence and devices that lend themselves to a semiotic analysis.

Folger’s Coffee – Misogyny and Bad Brews

This advertisement is not simply urging consumers to buy Folger’s. It shows a story by giving a glimpse into the daily life of an average American household. It shows the horrors of what could happen if you don’t buy Instant Folger’s. It tells the narrative that the best way to keep your husband happy and marriage intact is to give him what he wants, good coffee. And the only way to do that is with Instant Folger’s. It does so by exaggerating the importance of a good cup of coffee. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, the husband responded with “just a decent cup of coffee.” This is not a typical birthday request but is somewhat of a metaphor present throughout. When talking with her friend after her husband leaves for work, the main character says she will use Instant Folger’s to surprise him later that night.
This narrative is accomplished by playing on the gender roles of the time. In the United States, it was not until the 1970’s that women really left the house and began working. At the time of this ad, men worked and provided for their families, while women were expected to stay home and keep the house in order and their husbands happy. The wife in this ad is unable to live up to this expectation as she cannot even brew her husband a decent cup of coffee. The gender roles are further exemplified by the wife’s lack of a name. The husband is called Harvey on multiple occasions, while the wife is only referred to as “honey.” This effectively gives the wife even less agency.

As if being unable to satisfy her husband’s coffee needs was not enough, the ad goes even further to add to this woman’s troubles. It does so when her husband tells her that even “the girls down at the office” can make a better cup of coffee than her, and on a hotplate nonetheless. This is a form of non-representation. These girls are mentioned but never shown. They represent an invisible and mysterious threat to all housewives of the time. All of this is done to belabor the point that women should be buying Folger’s Coffee in order to keep their husbands happy.

Positioning is another tool used to create an effective advertisement. The gaze in this ad tells us that we are not supposed to engage with the subjects. This accomplished with both the level of interaction, as well as the distance of the scene. We view the scene unfold from roughly eye-level and only a few feet away from the subjects. It is as if we are present in the room with them but they do not know it, and we are unable to speak. These very deliberate choices really make the viewer feel what is going on, from the disappointment in the beginning to the intimacy at the end. For any housewife at the time who viewed this ad, it would likely compel them to reconsider what brand of coffee to buy.

While speaking of distance, it is also worth analyzing the distance between the two subjects of the ad. To start, the husband and wife are seated further apart as he is served his “undrinkable” coffee. This creates a more hostile environment, and as the wife later notes, Harvey does not even kiss her goodbye before he leaves. However, once she switches to Instant Folger’s and her coffee has improved, this all changes. The distance between the two has decreased, they are seated much closer together. The ad even ends with a very suggestive exchange as Harvey blows out a candle, pulls his wife closer and kisses her on the cheek, illustrating the exaggerated effects of what a good cup of coffee can do.

This ad reminded me a lot of a 1950’s Ford commercial, which can be seen below. The ad aims to show housewives how much more freedom they can have if their husbands purchase the new and affordable Ford. While there are plenty of differences, both ads utilize the gender norms of the time to target the same audience and show them how much better their lives can be with the product in question. Both are prime examples of the shift towards consumers’ needs and emotions and away from the specifics of the products themselves.