Rhetorical Analysis Of Budweiser

Budweiser is one of the best-known brands of beer in America. Their ads and commercials have always been known for being humorous and entertaining. Millions of people look forward to seeing the Super Bowl half-time commercials mostly because of Budweiser’s notorious commercials. Budweiser takes advantage of its reputation and makes commercials that are witty and fun for people to watch. They incorporate humor and a certain kind of sex appeal into their ads to sell their beer to men and send the message that there is nothing more pleasing in life than drinking Budweiser.

Super Bowl 50 brought in 115 million viewers to watch the game, which makes for a great opportunity for businesses to promote their product or service. With there being so many commercials airing during the super bowl each business must make their commercial stand out the most. “Wiener Stampede” is very ingenious as it persuades people that like dogs to use there condiments.

Budweiser is known for creating advertisements that convey messages that you wouldn’t otherwise tie with beer. In one of their more popular commercials “Lost Dog”, they attempt to show that your “buds” will always have your back, just as Budweiser will always be there for you. Budweiser managed to relate this life lesson to their notable company and a wide-range of viewers. In the “Lost Dog” commercial they successfully persuade viewers to buy their beer with the use of rhetorical appeals including ethos and pathos, while also lacking in the third appeal logos.

In February 2015, Budweiser released a commercial named “Lost Dog.” Unlike many other commercials, “Lost Dog” tells a story of an incredible friendship between two different animals. This friendship successfully catches the audience’s attention and captures their hearts. The commercial effectively persuades the audience to purchase their beer through the use of pathos, logos, and ethos. Although Budweiser uses the fallacy of non-sequitur, the commercial still works in their favor to prove their point. Through the use of different rhetorical strategies, Budweiser’s commercial was able to triumphantly make their audience feel several emotions in just one minute.

For this essay I chose to investigate rhetorical means of dog food advertisements. During this investigation I will point out what it is exactly that advertisers are using in order to sell their product. I chose a Blue Bufflo ad, a Pedigree ad, a vintage Ken-L-Ration ad, and another shorter Pedigree ad.

Red Bull gives you wings, is a world-famous slogan used to sell endless energy in a can. The slogan and advertising campaign of the Red Bull corporation uses many different marketing strategies that utilize weasel words and misleading advertising to increase sales and fool potential customers. In William Lutz’s article, “With These Words I Can Sell You Anything,” readers learn what weasel words are; Lutz explains “Words to appear to be making a claim for a product when in fact they are making no claim at all” (27). The term weasel word is used in the advertising industry because of how weasel eat the eggs of unexpecting animals. New, improved and reformulated are just a few examples of “weasel” words. That companies use to trick the American

The commercial appeals to the audience’s pathos more than anything. Animals, especially dogs, have a way of pulling with human heartstrings. “...they can be used to transfer desired meanings to the products with which they are associated” (Phillips 1). In other words, using animals in advertisements can link advertised products to the feelings that are associated

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" this is an old phrase used to inspire hopefulness and an encouraging, positive can-do attitude in the wake of hardship or disaster. Lemons symbolize the inevitable sourness or difficulties in life, while lemonade is the sweet drink that is the product of the lemons. Often life offers trivial disappointments with almost no explanation and sometimes it seems almost impossible to break the misfortunate spell. However, for some people, each mishap in their lives leave them not only perplexed but eager to see the glass half full rather than empty. Beyoncé is a prime example of making the best out of a bitter situation. On April 23, 2016, Beyonce released her groundbreaking fully visual album “Lemonade”. Lemonade debuted as number one album on the billboard charts and allowed Beyoncé to have the biggest first-week sales count. Nevertheless, with greatness comes a few flaws and “Lemonade” was no stranger to faults. To some, “Lemonade” was the cultural awakening that they needed but for many it was the conversation starter that would strike both emotionally and politically which is why it is such a powerful album but an even more important conversational piece.

In the world today, media is one of the major ways that companies and businesses sell or inform the society about their products. Television specifically uses commercials to get the attention of their audience by using language, sound, visuals, and persuasive strategies. The commercial, “A Boy and His Dog Duck,” was created by the company IAMS. This commercial is meant to persuade their target audience into buying IAMS food for not only one stage of their animal’s life, but for all stages of its life. The commercial that IAMS created, is quite effective for middle-class new mothers wanting their children to have a long-term companion.

Each year the SuperBowl commercials generate exceptionally high advertising revenues due to this event's ability to attract a very broad audience. Advertisers pay close attention to the demographics and psychographics of the viewers, looking for an opportunity to speak directly to their core demographic and psychographic segments with clear, compelling and emotionally stirring messages. The costs of producing and airing a SuperBowl commercial are so significant that many advertisers complete extensive tests of their concepts and multiple versions of their ads before choosing the best possible one for the expensive time slots purchased (Vranica, 2012).

Pathos is the main rhetorical device used throughout this commercial. Pathos is a quality that evokes emotions. It all begins with the puppy coming out from under the hay and the audience falling in love. Pathos is then used to tug on emotions when the puppy gets lost in the back of the truck. We soon see the emotion of the owner, but also the horse. Then we see the puppy all alone in the rain trying to take shelter. Towards the end, the puppy tries to find a home, but gets himself in trouble with the wolf. We then see the ending, we want, we see the puppy is saved and returns home to end the commercial with the owner enjoying a Budweiser. Throughout this commercial pathos creates a sense of happiness, pride, worry, and then happiness all over

Seeing a father-son duo together made this commercial that much better. At the very beginning, they had the son and father say what their names are. They want to get at your emotions and make you think that if you get this product that you’ll be able to have these heartwarming moments like that in your life. The cute little boy and his dad having fun splashing in the water is a definite awe moment. The little boy is what really gives this commercial its emotional hit. When the boy speaks he brings a smile to everyone’s face and he is extremely adorable. Now most parents have a special nickname for their child. Whether it be something simple such as “big boy” or “baby girl”, they all mean the same thing, that they love them. The father in the commercial calls the boy his “cub”, usually a mother would want to call their child a cub. Since there doesn’t seem to be a mother in the picture the father calls him his cub and he’s the father bear. Now, this may not be an ASPCA commercial but it can still get those tears falling.

Using a straightforward approach to sell a product, or using an approach with a hidden agenda. Two texts selling a similar product in two different way. Which more persuades the audience to buy that particular product.

When it comes to selling beer locally Budweiser is the one that reigns over any local beer. One of the reasons to this success would have to be their distinctive commercials. A few of these recognizable commercials wouldn’t have just been seen by beer drinkers, but a larger audience, hence why I am writing about it. The first one that would come to mind would have to be the “Lost Dog”, which came out in 2015. Another would be the “Wassup?” commercial which aired in 1999. While both of the end goals of the commercials is to try and market to a larger audience and eventually sell beer, the means of which they sell you one the beer through the beer is quite different.

This commercial is basically a short speech by a “Frank British Lady” discussing how she does not understand how someone would drive drunk. She compliments the audience and acts as if she expects more from a human being. She ends on a positive note by stating “cheers” to the viewers. The goal of Budweiser is to be distinct, and it aims straight to the heart of the audience by calling the attention of all viewers as it is a refreshing commercial as it truly does stand out from the rest. Overall, the target market is both genders, aimed at adults who may be planning on driving drunk either that night or ever.