There is a great deal to be learned about rhetoric by reading an article called, "Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents," by Keith Grant-Davie. Rhetoric is a way to persuade someone through speaking or writing. The article, "Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents" shows how the use of tone and style (ethos), emotional or motivational appeals (pathos), and logic to support a claim (logos) are used by rhetors, people who make up rhetorical situations to convince an audience. "In order to understand rhetoric, it is necessary to understand the motivations (Grant-Davie 101)". Grant-Davie's article inspired me to investigate rhetoric in use on my own. I decided to choose a commercial about "Axe: Excite," a product from a top-selling men's bath and body hygiene line.
Doesn't every man dream something along the lines of having beautiful angels fall from heaven with whom he can have sexual encounters? The commercial of my choice is one minute long and starts off with a man spraying the Axe product onto himself before he leaves to go out into town. The next clip shows a little boy standing in the middle of a street holding a bag and staring up at the changing sky. It proceeds with angels falling from the sky and the song "Sexy Angels" by Fallen Angels starts to play in the background. As the angels continue to fall, they surround the man who sprayed himself with Axe. From there, they begin to break there halos and stare into the man's eyes lustfully. At the end of the commercial, the voice over says,"New Axe: Excite; even angels will fall." Many things about this ad caught my attention, such as the changing of the environment as soon as the man who used the Axe product stepped outside, the dropping of the angels out the sky, the playing of background music, and when the man said, "New Axe: Excite; even angels will fall.
Axe being one of the top selling men hygiene products in the world, but it is also known for its unforgettable attractive sexual ads.