Ok, so I am pulling my hair out trying to get my instructor what he wants on this rhetorical analysis essay and he's letting me submit a revision for a better grade. Could you please take a look at this and make suggestions? Works cited/references are not required for this assignment. You can Google "Einstein ideas sexy" under images and you can see the ad that this paper is based upon.
Here is my essay:
A Relatively Good Idea
The creator of this ad selling the idea that being smart is sexy, has depicted a very muscular version of Albert Einstein going shirtless with e=mc2 tattooed on his bicep and a caption telling us that, "Ideas are sexy too". This advertisement uses all three forms of arguments; pathos, ethos and logos. The ad uses pathos to make the reader feel that being smart is sexy. The creator also made Einstein look ripped with muscles to appeal to one's sexuality. The ad uses ethos by using Albert Einstein as the character of focus in the ad. He is known as one of the smartest people who have ever lived, so he is an excellent choice as this ad's mascot. The ad uses pathos by depicting Einstein's theory of relativity as a tattoo on his arm. This mathematical equation is one of the most well-known equations on earth and the creator of the ad uses it as a tool to tie the subject: Einstein, the emotion: sex and the subject: being smart, together.
This advertisement focuses mostly on pathos. Einstein's bushy head of hair with furrowed eyebrows and painter's brush mustache are imposed upon a body the likes of an Adonis. He has broad shoulders, rippling muscles and washboard abs. Since muscular men and tattoos usually equal sexy in a lot of women's eyes, the ad creator had e=mc2 tattooed on his left bicep, which is one of the focal points of the ad. Einstein is placed in front of an entirely white background, as to keep the viewer from being distracted by anything other than Einstein himself. This ad appeals to one's sense of humor because it's funny seeing such on elderly, unattractive and scientific man depicted in this light. Hovering at the top of the ad is a caption at the top saying, "Ideas are sexy too". The caption on this ad is backed up and emphasized by the very detailed and appealing, hunky picture of Albert Einstein.
Ethos is also present in this ad since this ad is about intelligence. Albert Einstein is probably one of the first people who come to mind when anybody thinks of the smartest person they know. While Einstein is one of the smartest people we know, he was definitely not the sexiest. He was an elderly man with crazy hair who was scrawny and wore cardigans all of the time. How do you make Einstein sexy? Superimpose his head onto the body of a very physically fit man! Any man who was that smart and sexy would be the toast of the town and the object of desire for women around the world, hence proving the slogan that ideas are sexy. The ad creator took something very basic and made it very appealing simply by their use of emotional appeal and the use of the seemingly only perfect subject to get their point across.
While logos is present in this advertisement, it is a very small, but integral part of it. Logos is used to tie everything about the ad together. E=mc2 is the formula for Einstein's theory of relativity and the creator of the ad has made it one of the focal points with a tattoo on Einstein's well-formed bicep. The depiction of his formula emphasizes idea, thought, intelligence and science and it ties the caption into the whole design. It wouldn't have had the same effect putting Pythagoras on this ad and tattooing the Pythagorean Theorem on his arm because it wouldn't be as appealing or comprehended. The general public is comprised of people of all walks of life and different levels of intelligence. The ad creator used elements that could be defined by laypersons or a professor of physics.
In conclusion, this is the epitome of an advertisement that uses all three forms of arguments. Ads that include all three areas of argumentation seem to do a better job of drawing in their audience than ads that focus purely on pathos, ethos or logos. It goes to show you that the most simplistic of ads can have all of the areas of arguments hidden within them. The most talented advertisement agencies/people are the ones that can make a huge impact with something so minimalistic.
Ad paper is based upon
