Commercial advertisements are the most effective techniques to persuade people to buy a specific brand’s products and make the product to be well known amongst the public. They could be published on the websites, magazines and newspapers and on the television and they are meant to be very convincing to the eyes of the people since they feed on the society’s materialistic nature.
Thesis
Mercedes-Benz’s commercial advertisement aided a great deal in making me understand the importance of grabbing the customer’s attention. As an essential method of persuasion, pathos, ethos and logos were used to create an interaction atmosphere between the advertisement and the viewers by providing some examples to illustration. The advertisement did not include other models to show how better the Mercedes SLS is. However, by displaying facts about the car’s mileage, crash safety ratings and also playing classical harmonica music in the background, are giving the reasons as to why the Mercedes Benz is a classic car which commercially attracts and grabs the audience’s attention.
The Mercedes Benz commercial implies that rich and famous people like Federer are buying the Mercedes Benz’s cars. By using a celebrity, the advertisement appeals to the need of human beings to be associated with famous people hence it can easily sway the emotions of the viewers and hence the pathos of the advertisement. Reasons for buying the car were the logos of the advertisement, the video provided viewers with some reasons why the Mercedes SLS car is spectacular by showing off its performance, speed, safety and interior’s luxury leather.
Some argue that the Mercedes SLS car is not unique and that they are not familiar with it, especially because the advertisement did not show the full capabilities of the car fair enough. However, is there an abundant number of Mercedes SLS cars in street? Does everyone have the ability to buy a Mercedes SLS car? The answer will be definitely not, which gives the SLS advantage over the other luxury cars. Therefore, although the commercial advertisement may not cover every single feature about the car, it uses couple effects and attractions in the advertisement to overcome this issue.
Mercedes Benz always combines luxury and performance that is why I was not surprised to see this Mercedes Benz’s advertisement. The advertisement video started with a fantastic music and presented the actions of the famous tennis player Federer in the tennis court. Federer was playing in a spectacular atmosphere between immense buildings that create fascinating moments in a quite and unique place. The blue sky, the mild weather and the beautiful green trees indicate the morning hours. In the playground, there was a speed measurement counter to measure the speed of the ball while Federer was striking tinny tennis balls several times to reach the highest speed among all of the strikes he has done.
Federer eventually tried his best and reached 135mph as the speed measurement counter indicated. Federer then felt exhausted and disappointed at his performance as he thought he could reach higher than that speed. Federer then was staring at his amazing Mercedes SLS car parked across the street, got in it, started the engine and drove away. Federer was amused in driving the car because it was safe despite the high speed, so he was driving very fast in the desert and enjoying those moments after the training.
Federer also placed a tennis ball inside the car. The reason for bringing the ball is because Federer could not reach more than 135 mph, so he wanted to shatter the records and reach above the regular speed. Fortunately, by having a Mercedes SLS car, Federer achieved his aim and reached 197 mph when he drove very fast in the desert. In this advertisement, the model of the car is being compared to the tennis ball to show high speed of the car.
The commercial advertisement has covered all the inside and outside details of the car including the millage. Eventually, the video ended complimenting the Mercedes Benz products by saying: “The best or nothing”. This annotation is one of the Mercedes Benz’s points of pride because it implies that the management of the Mercedes Benz Company cares about the quality of their products, which gives the Mercedes Company a competitive advantage.
The superstar Federer has gained worldwide recognition and he is a role model to many people around the world. Federer in this advertisement represents an ethical appeal; it gives the advertisement credibility since people believe people they respect hence in this ad its ethos persuasion is well represented by Federer.
However, if an advertisement does not use a superstar as one of the attractive tools, they will definitely not win people’s admiration since that is a human nature.
Attractive devices lay a huge role in the way of pathos, which convinces the audience by appealing to someone’s emotions. If this part of rhetoric is not included, then viewers presumably might not like the advertisement because the advertisement has already lost one of the most significant methods of persuasion.
As a viewer, there are several points in the commercial video that attracted me to watch it repeatedly. First of all, the superstar Roger Federer is acting in the video. Therefore, owning a Mercedes-Benz is a prestige that makes someone distinguished from other people. Having Federer in the advertisement makes it prestigious for people to own Mercedes SLS.
Second, the good reasoning that the advertisement provided has persuaded me. The Mercedes SLS has great features, such as luxury leather, speed and safety. It is undeniable that if a car has these features, it will be unique and on demand. In contrast, if a car is not safe or unique, no one will accept to buy it even if the car looks wonderful because people care about the quality more than anything else. Lastly, the commercial advertisement has won people’s admirations and succeeded persuading people when they used rhetoric.
Conclusion
The Mercedes Benzes’ advertisement used pathos, ethos and logos as a method of persuasion of the audience. After watching the video, I got a full understanding of rhetoric and how to use it. Additionally, there was an annotation in the video about the Mercedes cars’ quality that goes: “The best or nothing”, which indicates that the Mercedes Company cares about the quality of their products more than anything else, hence customers will not regret buying the Mercedes SLS.
The Mercedes Benz reputation has reached worldwide recognition through the high quality of products and well marketing by rhetorical appeals. However, there are several matters and steps that Mercedes Benz should follow to be more interesting and attractive. For example, in the commercial video, it is true that they have shown how the car, Mercedes SLS, was fast by driving between the desert and hills, however it could have been an interesting idea if they could have engaged two models in a race and let the Mercedes SLS outrun the other cars. Hence, it will be more persuasive in the terms of the speed. Finally, the advertisement could have used another superstar to fully back their claim of the Mercedes SLS being a high class car.