The Narrative Paradigm

When it comes to the topic of commercials, most of us readily agree that commercials are irritating. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the purpose of the commercial. Whereas some are convinced that commercials are meaningless, others maintain that commercials tell a story. Effective commercials are repetitive and illustrate a story. Marketers use rhetoric marketing, the art of persuasive speaking and writing, when persuading an audience to buy a product. Rhetoric marketing is especially effective through the illustration of a story. It is effective because the marketer is able to relate to the consumer with a story or message. Advertisers also use the appeals of logic, credibility, and emotions to intrigue interest in a company. Coca-Cola’s advertisement, “Falling,” depicts the product as a confidence building companion suitable for young love through a series of logical and emotional appeals that visibly promotes the brand’s credibility.

In “Two Ways a Woman Can get Hurt: Advertising and Violence,” the author Jean Kilbourne describes how advertising and violence is a big problem for women. Although her piece is a little scrambled, she tries to organize it with different types of advertisement. Women are seen as sex objects when it comes to advertising name brand products. Corporate representatives justify selling and marketing for a product by how a woman looks. Kilbourne explains how the media is a big influence on how men perceive women. Kilbourne tries to prove her point by bashing on advertising agencies and their motives to successfully sell a product. Kilbourne’s affirmation towards advertisements leaves you no doubt that she is against them.

Do you ever watch the Super Bowl for its commercials? Have you ever bought a more expensive product because you had seen its advertisement? If the answer is yes, then you might have been a victim of today’s marketers. Jean Kilbourne, the author of “Killing us Softly” stated in one of her lectures, “The influence of advertising is quick, cumulative and for the most part, subconscious, ads sell more products.” “Advertising has become much more widespread, powerful, and sophisticated.” According to Jean Kilbourne, “babies at six months can recognize corporate logos, and that is the age at which marketers are now starting to target our children.” Jean Kilbourne is a woman who grew up in the 1950s and worked in the media field in the 1960s. This paper will explain the methods used by marketers in today’s advertising. An advertisement contains one or more elements of aesthetics, humor, and sexual nature.

Kilbourne demonstrates three major main criticisms of advertising. First, advertising objectifies people and objects for the purpose of sales. This critique promotes products as more important than people and exploits human deeds and desires. Kilbourne offers ample evidence to support her first criticism of advertising. For example, Kilbourne examines advertisement such as the Thule car-rack - which humorously places more value on sports equipment been a child's life - is evidence of the trend that advertising is “objectif[ing] people…trivializ[ing and exploiting] our most heartfelt moments and relationships. Every emotion [,person, animal, and natural phenomenon] is used to sell us something” (Kilbourne, 2006, 369). Second - according to Kilbourne - advertising promotes and perpetuates the unnatural passion for products rather than personal relationship. “Advertising corrupts relationships and then offers us products, both as solace and as substitutes for the intimate human connection we all long for and need” (Kilbourne, 2006, 370). Within this concept, advertising also commits ‘cultural rape’ by manipulating sacred symbols for their utilization as emotional leverage in advertising. Third, advertisements damage the personality and structure of culture. For example the Giwch’in tribe’s traditional culture was almost erased by the introduction of advertising through television. “As multinational chains replace local character, we end up in a world in which everyone is Gapped and Starbucked…[Thus] rampant commercialism undermines our physical and psychological health, our environments and our civic life, and creates a toxic society” (Kilbourne, 2006, 371), which robs individuals of cultural and personal diversity. Based on the evidence presented by Kilbourne, I strongly agree with all three of these

With the media becoming the main source from which the current society gets their daily information concerning products, news stories, and entertainment, it is wise to think critically about the messages they are conveying to us. These corporations spend large sums of money every day in order to grasp our attention. The question as to whether or not they have their customer’s best interest in mind arises and leaves the public no answer but to look to the advertisements they have produced. Consider the pistachio industry using a woman with a whip to grasp the viewers’ attention. In reality, is a provocative image what it takes to sell us a simple bag of pistachios? With advertising decisions like these come negative consequences such as the

This paper analyzes the effectiveness in creating Kairos in an article by establishing a sense of exigence. A form of rhetorical appeal, Kairos is the ability to take advantage of an opportune moment to persuade an audience to act now, meet a deadline or react to a crisis. A key factor in the creation of Kairos is the establishment of exigence. Exigence is a set of circumstances which establishes a sense of urgency; a reason for existence. In Jean Kilbourne’s article “Two Ways to Hurt a Women” she effectively uses, Kairos to persuade her audience that media needs to be more aware of the portrayal of men, women, and children in advertisements and the impact on children’s future behavior and beliefs.

television advertisement companies, main intention is to captivate the audience in other to purchase their product that they are portraying. In this essay, I will be analyzing these two ads, “Whale” (Old Spice) and “Susan Glenn” (Axe). These ads are formulated to get their products noticed, along with sparking the interest of the other goods they may offer. Countless methods are used to convince the audience that’s being targeted to buy the product. Therefore, these ads are similar in its ability to gain the attention of their audiences by appealing to pathos. Through this essay I will analyze the rhetorical effects that help bring these commercials to life.

In this era, the power of good advertising is more important than ever. This causes a big issue, the issue of morality in commercials. In the video “Chevy bed punctured! Deceptive commercial” by Youtube reviewer Big Truck Big RV , the speaker goes over many deceptive techniques used by car companies to make other companies products seem worse than their own.

An important controversial issue that America faces today is the debate of sex in advertising. Edward A. McCabe and John Carroll are two authors that present opposing arguments about this issue. McCabe persuades the reader into thinking that sex in advertising is no big deal, while Carroll explains why this is a major problem in America. Sex ads are defined as any type of advertising that shows pictures of partial nudity with wording that relates to the body in a sexual way, usually portraying women. Sex in advertising has been around for a long time but has the industry become too sexually explicit?

Sexualizaton and objectification in the advertisements we see and the media we watch has become a very strong issue in our society. With the idea that “sex sells”, consumers don’t even realize that they’re not viewing the advertisements for what they are, but for the women (or men) that are being portrayed in a very erotic way, posed with whatever product they were hired to sell. Many articles have been written so far to challenge and assess this problem, but one written by Jean Kilbourne (1999), “”Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”: Advertising and Violence” holds an extensive amount of authority. Using her personal experience with the subject, as well as studies she has conducted herself on the topic of sexualization, she talks about how the amount of sexualization in advertising affects how society views the culture and products consumers buy. She also notes that because of the quantity and prevalence of these ads, the rate of all forms of sexual assault, specifically rape (mostly towards women of all age), increase, as well as other forms of assault. It is important to examine Kilbourne’s use of rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, and how effective these devices make her article. This way, it can be examined for its validity and her understanding of her own research. Kilbourne’s article is very effective through her uses of pathos and ethos, but at the same time, it loses its effectiveness through her absence of a counter-argument, as well as a lack

Communication is natural to humans, across all cultures and races. According to Walter Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm we communicate and learn through storytelling or narratives. Our world is ever changing, along with our stories. Does the narrative theory still hold water in our modern age with instant access to technology, diverse cultures, and lifestyles? This paper takes a close look at criticisms of the Narrative Paradigm and Walter Fisher’s response to the critics. It will also examine published studies where the theory was put to test. In our fast paced, evolving world our stories are what give us stability in our lives, and confidence in communication and learning.

It is also assumed that the act of telling a story can provide insight into past, present and future events (Espinoza, 1997). By going through this process, individuals can find the importance of certain events and assign roles to people who are a part of their story. This act can allow a client to find new meaning and understanding to their reality (Espinoza, 1997). Not only is a

When analysing all of the advertising around us, sometimes we don’t look at what the true message of a commercial really is. We live in a world that is controlled by mass media and because of this advertisers are trying harder each year to outdo themselves and their competitors. Rhetors use techniques in their advertisements such as fantasies or surrealism to catch the attention of their audience. Companies like Audi pour millions of dollars into their marketing teams to make sure their cars look the best and attract consumers. Commercials that are shown on television today are great examples of rhetorical artifacts because of the many techniques being exercised by the rhetor. Analyzing this through the lens of rhetorical

The theory of semiotics, as proposed by Roland Barthes, has been used to analyze advertisements and the effectiveness of advertisements on viewers. In the articles that I researched that used semiotics to analyze particular advertisements, I found four common and related themes. First, the articles mentioned that the viewer determines the meaning of the advertisement or the viewer interprets the advertisement. Second, this meaning that the viewer assigns to the advertisement is largely determined by context, both social and cultural. Third, advertisers use culture and predominant cultural beliefs in their advertisements in efforts to reach their audience more effectively. Finally, these advertisements actually end up supporting the

Advertising and promotion, ethical pitfall: Issues over truth and honesty. Issues with violence, sex and profanity. Taste and controversy and negative advertising