Lack of Rhetoric at the Super Bowl

To be completely honest, I watch the Super Bowl primarily for the commercials, this past Super Bowl offering up some interesting ones. Juxtapose this with our class discussions of rhetorical commercials and naturally I began to think of such football-influenced ads in the realm of rhetoric.

That being said, a commercial that utilizes rhetoric should convince the viewer of a meaning within the persuasion. Ethos, logos, and pathos are employed to deliver this goal, with the end result of having convinced the viewer to endorse the product.

Yet, while thinking of the commercials with this in mind, one particular commercial seemed to both fail at this and also achieve greatly. With that, we look to David Beckham and his H&M commercial that all my female friends loved, without question.

The commercial succeeded in making the product known, certainly. It was in black and white and the only words heard were within the music playing. This allowed for the product to speak for itself. The entire commercial panned Beckham’s body, only. This was all the rhetoric at work. No ethos. No logos. The only pathos being that of the jealousy and desire people have for David Beckham. 

Essentially it was selling a product for men, to women. I understand that men want to be David Beckham and girlfriends want their boyfriends to look like him, so they might buy the product. But is society so engulfed to not realize the practicality of this. Do we really think that by purchasing underwear, we will become a star soccer player? Is the “rhetoric” of this commercial really working? I hope not.

Still, I’m sure H&M sales have increased. They succeed in that, but to me, society has fallen victim. There is no emotion behind the ad. It shows how “sex sells” and because of this the so-called rhetoric fails.