Faulty Logic as a Persuasive Appeal in Advertising

Introduction 

Persuasive appeals entails the different techniques employed with the objective of having people to accept a specific line of argument. It has been established that faulty logic is often employed with the aim of persuading people to accepting various messages as truthful ( Majone, 1989) . Most advertisements have been identified as being part of the avenues employing faulty logic with the aim of convincing their target audiences into purchasing the specific messages they could be trying to sell. In this context, the current paper reviews the ways advertisements employ faulty logic with the aim of selling the products that they market. Specifically, the advertisement to be reviewed is titled ‘Crazy Things to Stay Healthy,’ and it can be accessed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlqFplfTojA . 

The Message of the Advertisement 

The advert entails marketing Vitamin Water. The narrator of the message in the advertisement is LeBron James, a famous basketball player, who has remained as one of the most popular sports personalities in the United States. In the narration of the advertisement, the narrator seeks to despise some of the strategies that people employ to deal with the various aches, pains and wounds that the suffer as they undertake various activities in their lives. For instance, the narrator states that people cover their bodies in cheese to heal wounds, which the narrator explains as being crazy. The narrator explains that some people lock themselves in hybrid chambers to stay healthy, an action which he describes as crazy as well. The narrator then explains that he uses the Vitamin Water HHH to stay healthy at all times. He explains that he keeps it really simple by drinking the vitamin water to stay healthy. He is depicted to be dribbling his basketball even when he is being sprayed but yet he manages to emerge from the fumes and runs off yelling ‘wow, see you.’ 

The Use of Faulty Logic in the Advert 

The following forms of faulty logic are clear in the advert: 

The ad uses the false premise appeal, which can be deduced from the way the narrator presents various logical statements with the assumptions that is false. For instance, the arguments that some people lock themselves in hybrid chambers to stay healthy is logical but the way the narrator represents it is in some way misleading and false. 

The ad uses the Ad hominem appeal, which is generally name calling because the narrator is clearly against the other methods employed for people to stay healthy without using the narrator’s preferred vitamin water (Shabo, 2008). 

The ad uses the appeal to ignorance tactic with the aim of depicting the other methods employed to deal with the issue the marketed product is intended to cure as being ineffective considering the lack of evidence that they work to deliver the intended results. 

The ad also uses the ill-founded generalization with the objective of discouraging the audience from using the other methods without considering their benefits and encouraging them to use the product being marketed without necessarily considering its consequences (Shabo, 2008). 

Conclusion 

Following the detailed review of the advert, it is clear that it employs effectively the various forms of faulty logic with the aim of appealing to the target audiences and persuading them to purchase the product being marketed. While the persuasive strategies employed in the advert could be effective, it is important to note that various ethical questions could be raised against the developers of the ad. 

References 

CommercialsUSA. (2010, July 13). Vitamin Water 2010 Commercial "Crazy Things to Stay Healthy" . Retrieved from New Vitamin Water commercial.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlqFplfTojA 

Majone, G. (1989).  Evidence, argument, and persuasion in the policy process . Yale University Press. 

Shabo, M. (2008).  Techniques of propaganda and persuasion . Prestwick House Inc.