ADVERTISING MESSAGES

This commercial depicts a child whom is foreign to the setting in which he finds himself in search of a buddhist temple. He eventually completes his training into adulthood and graduates as a monk, but his training culminates with taking the impression of the top of a Pepsi can. As such, the main product is Pepsi and the idea behind the commercial is that no experience or life is complete without partaking in the drinking of Pepsi. This commercial resonates with many of Coke’s commercials as they certain on life experiences and enjoyment through their product. Both companies are interdependent corporate entities and as such, the audience of one is the audience of the other. In this case, the target audience is anyone who drinks Pepsi (and some that may drink coke). No words are seeing or exchanged in this commercial, and therefore no information that is relevant to the product or the consumers is present, but the scenes and music do all the work in portraying the main idea. The advertising contains some humor and a lighthearted tone which may be its strongest point (in its pathos). Again, no logos is being offered, and its ethos rests entirely on the notion that disciplined people celebrate and respect pepsi drinkers. In this way, the persuasive message advertised is that you can be respected and acknowledged by others if you drink Pepsi.

Commercials like these are prevalent and they also reflect the strong influence that the media exercises on its recipients. Humorous, sometimes cryptic and provocative sequences are vastly used in these advertisements by companies to advance a product or idea. It seems to me that commercials like these differ greatly from their counterparts 20 years ago. Commercials during that time emphasized words and listed attributes of a product, which may be indicative of a stronger inclination towards the logos in their rhetoric. Conversely, commercials now seem to work more on pathos; less words and more visuals to emotionally move the audience. The ethos is typically covered by a celebrity whom endorses the product. The media has evolved from newspaper, to radio, to television, to internet, and with each successive change, it has acquired new and powerful ways to employ ethos, pathos, and logos. As a result, the media today exercises great influence to an unprecedented degree.