Rhetorical Analysis Vintage Ad Essay
This Palmolive soap advertisement’s headline reads: "Let your beauty be seen.” While looking at this headline from a modern prospective one might find such claims absurd, when one considers the context of the ad, and that this advertisement targeted the female demographic in America during the 1950’s it kind of makes sense that the ad may have been persuasive. The 50’s can be regarded as one of the happiest decades in American history. There were two forms of advertising in the 50’s era. Looking at it from the 50’s perspective the housewife wants to use this product to look appealing to her husband because in that time the women stayed at home and looked after the home while the men worked. In this ad, Palmolive targets the growing population of suburban women and uses rhetorical strategies to appeal to those women.
The primary focus of the ad is Palmolive’s appeal to pathos. The depiction of the housewife looking very beautiful with a flawless complexion and the doting husband apparently hanging on her shoulder admiring her beautiful complexion, suggests that with this product, you too can have an adoring husband admiring your new flawless complexion when you use Palmolive soap. In the text of the ad, it states how Palmolive’s beauty plan brings exciting complexion loveliness and all you need to do is a gentle message of Palmolive’s extra mild, pure lather into your skin for just a minute, three times a day. Then simply rinse and pat dry. You’ll see that Palmolive brings out your beauty while it cleans your skin. In this way, the ad appeals to the emotions of its audience through pathos.
The Secondary focus of the ad is logos. The Palmolive Company is a trusted name because they put out products that were made for women to use making their work more efficient and their lives easier. This represents a seemingly logical reasoning that if this trusted company that has given women so much now suggests trying this...