Rhetorical Analysis: The Real Cost

Cigarettes are everywhere. These tiny objects that are held between the cusps of ones fingers hold unknown danger. They hold addictive substances and can lead to both immediate and long-term damage. Cigarettes used to be romanticized and glamourized by the media, but modern day campaigns have begun to reveal the truth about their dangerous effects. Through graphic imagery and audio choices, The Real Cost Campaign reaches out to young adults in order to demonstrate these consequences and render an emotional response of fear as well vanity by revealing an ugly side effect of smoking; distortion of skin.

Tobacco ads have stood out to me from a young age, I was used to seeing cigarette ads in every magazine and street corner. When I was 11 I joined a tobacco advocacy group, I wanted to inform young people my age about the dangers of tobacco but mostly I joined because they paid me. I found these two ads and I remembered sitting in an empty classroom analyzing tobacco ads and discussing how they appeal to us. I found two ads, both from the most recent issue of a popular celebrity gossip magazine. The first major difference one notices is that of the ads is catered to a completely different audience. Blu E-cigarettes cater to the new age of tobacco consumers. While Newport menthol cigarettes are tried and tested, a classic. The major differences in this ad make it difficult to pick which one is most effective at getting more buyers of their product. Newport’s ad is

According to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 36.5 million Americans currently smoke, that is about fifteen percent of the population which is equal to the combined population of America’s twenty-five largest cities. Although anti-smoking advertisements are shown throughout the United States, people do not take them seriously half the time. The advertisement in this analysis showcases a grayish background, with the colors focusing mainly on a cigarette box that has the cigarettes put into crayon labels and the box also opens like a crayon box. There is also a child’s writing with crayons saying, “Just like mommy.” From this, the image showcases the dangers of smoking and the causes it has on loved ones. This advertisement uses strong ethos, pathos, and logos to get ASH’s point across very clear.

In “Bring Back Flogging”, Jeff Jacoby addresses the problems within America 's criminal justice system. He gives many reasons why imprisonment simply does not work, and suggests that corporal punishment should be used as an alternative. Published in the Boston Globe, a newspaper well known for being liberal, Jacoby provides a conservative view and directs his argument towards those who strongly support imprisonment and view corporal punishment to be highly barbaric and inhumane. However, in order to shed light on our current situation, Jacoby discusses the dangers that we face though our criminal justice system a nd shows concern that imprisonment is doing more harm than good. In effect, Jacoby looks to the past for solutions, and

Approximately twenty percent of adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, it is this habit which is the number one cause of death that is easily preventable. Anti-smoking advertisements are seen throughout our society, usually showing the harmful effects of tobacco through graphic pictures or other shocking images. The advertisement I chose is a black and white image, showing a young man smoking a cigarette, with the smoke from it forming a gun pointed at his head. Off to the side appear the words, “Kill a cigarette, save a life. Yours.” The advertisement makes use of the three rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos through its image and implied meanings. Through this, the image is able to convey a strong sense of danger and bring awareness to the deadliness of smoking.

This anti-smoking video begins by showing adult smokers on the street who become very confused when small children come up to them asking for a lighter. Through the use of ethos, pathos and logos, the story display’s a very powerful message to it’s audience. By using these three rhetorical situations, the writer illustrates an important story to persuade the audience not to smoke cigarettes.

Anti-smoking advertisements occasionally pop up throughout our society which is often showing the viewers the harmful effects of tobacco through startling images. This advertisement uses the elements of ethos, pathos, and logos in order to make people rethink about smoking. The video advertisement uses children to make a point across by showing real scenarios on the effects of smoking. It shows that the commonplace for smoking, in today’s time, is acceptable for teenagers to smoke and jump to an assumption that children are starting to try it. Once the children are introduced into this advertisement pathos is

The second rhetorical appeal, ethos, also has an effect on the message behind the image. Kelly Ashcraft is the creator of the image used in the advertisement, she is by no means a well-known photographer except within her own circle and people who may have seen her work online. However, the audience is able to conclude several things about her character and credibility through this image. The audience can surmise that Ashcraft is trying to inspire a healthier way of living in viewers because of her choice to create an anti-smoking image. However, with ominous smoking images such as hers, it gives the impression that the image creator holds smokers in a negative light as people, not just the smoking aspect of their lives. At least, to smokers

This is an anti-smoking advertisement geared towards parents of young children. The advertisement is overall plain and simple; it gets straight to the point when you look at it and utilizes a dark theme. This anti-smoking advertisement is trying to evoke a sense of “parental guilt” into parents who smoke. The way the advertisement is able to do this is through the use of an optical illusion, use of text and the use of negative space.

The advertisement that I examined for my rhetorical analysis essay from is the First National Anti-Smoking Ads “Smoking Kills”. The ethos of this image was created by the Center for Disease Control, in an effort to inform nonsmokers, and smokers about the dangers of smoking, and the tactics tobacco companies are used to persuade people to buy cigarettes. In the image smoking is perceived as brutal to the public health. Also, smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the world. Smoking in this image associate the cigarettes to bullets in a gun as a way to clarify how cigarettes are deadly and can kill you slowly.

Did you know that almost every one person out of seven smokes cigarettes on Earth? It is one of the top cause of death, yet, five million people die each year. Anti- smoking advertisements usually comes up very often, when you are watching TV, on social media, even on top of the cigarette packs. The advertisement that I choosed to do my rhetorical analysis is black and white picture, showing young woman smoking a cigarette and the smoke is forming like rope around the lady’s neck where it is about to choke the lady. The advertisement is using the two rhetorical claim of logos and pathos through this picture. Through this advertisement, the image shows us how deadly it is to smoke cigarettes.

A major issue today in tobacco advertisement is the controversy over ads targeting children and teenagers. The two companies under the most fire for their advertisements are Marlboro and Camel. Marlboro uses a fictional “Marlboro Man,” while Camel uses a high rolling and sophisticated cartoon character, Joe Camel. Camel has been attacked by several Tobacco-free organizations as a major influence on children. Dr. Lonnia Bristow of the American Medical Association remarks, “To children, cartoon characters mean that the product is harmless, but cigarettes are not harmless. They have to know that their ads are influencing children under ten to begin smoking, but choose not to stop creating them” (Thomas). Researchers have conducted studies that show six year olds recognize Joe Camel as well as they recognize Mickey Mouse. Every industry denies that their advertising goal targets people under twenty-one, and they claim their goal is to simply promote brand switching and brand loyalty (Breo). Jeff Pearlman sums up the attitude of the tobacco and advertising industries by saying, “Is the use of a cartoon character in an ad proof that you are ‘targeting children‘? If so, what about the Pink Panther selling insulation or Snoopy promoting insurance?” (Bill Clinton...).

The authors point out how anti-smoking advertisements do not send a clear message to the students to understand how smoking can impact their health. It seems that the advertisements trick people by sending the wrong message, such as demonstrating that smoking is not as bad as it seems that the more the students see those advertisements, the more propense for the students to smoke. The source is relevant to my hypothesis because it demonstrates that teenagers are unaware of the health consequences that they can get. The author’s goal is for teenagers to understand anti-smoking messages are not explicit and are not demonstrating a clear understanding of the risks that smoking cause. The authors conclude that new advertisements need to be more carefully evaluated for teenagers to recognize that their intentions reflect undesirable outcome in the antismoking advertainments for teenagers to understand smoking and the inevitable result that can be provoked due to smoking.

Cancer. A word that touches so many people worldwide. Many people know someone personally or someone close to them that have been affected by cancer. Because of this, most people would want to prevent or stop this disease if they could. So, why is there more than six million people dying each year from lung cancer alone? (Segel). Cigarette smoking is considered the major risk factor for many lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and lung cancer (Segel). This preventable death has caused many anti-smoking advertisements to surface. These campaigns show explicit photos about how cigarette smoking affects ones life. The advertisement I chose shows a young African American male buying a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store. In the advertisement, the clerk tells the male that he does not have enough for the purchase. Afterward, the male takes a pair of pliers to his face and rips out his teeth. Also in this same commercial, a young female teen pulls off half her face. The message being portrayed asks teens “What are cigarettes costing you?” Along with this, cigarettes are acting as a dominating factor in many young teens lives. Through its descriptions, pictures, and sayings, logos, ethos, and pathos are all used in this advertisement. The vivid images in this campaign not only use vanity to prevent teens from picking up a cigarette, but also inform young teens about the future dangers of smoking.

For a long time now, many people have had different views about smoking cigarettes. It was only decades ago that people were smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, thinking there would be no consequences. As time progressed, smoking cigarettes was discovered to have harmful, lasting effects that could also lead to major health problems, and possibly death. During this time, countless of anti-smoking advertisements soon appeared, often showing the harmful effects of smoking through grotesque and shocking depictions. However, there are some anti-smoking advertisements that use different methods in trying to convey their message. Truth, best known by their website theTruth.com, is an anti-tobacco campaign that released a black and white advertisement depicting a young man smoking a cigarette, with the smoke from it forming an image of a gun pointed to the head of the man. At first glance, the advertisement is just seen as a regular anti-smoking advertisement informing non-smokers of the consequences of smoking, but by various rhetorical devices as well as distinctive and influential images, the advertisement effectively communicates the impending sense of danger and persuasively advocates the deadliness of smoking cigarettes to both non-smokers and smokers by connecting smoking with death.