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“At Michelin, we are guided by a single overriding concept: tires are- as far as we are concerned- the most important pieces of equipment you can put on your car. Therefore, making the best tires possible, regardless of cost, has become an obsession with us. That is why we make our own steel for our steel-belted radials. Why each tire model is so long in the developmental stage. And even longer in the testing and manufacturing stages. That is also why Michelins perform as well as they perform. And last as long as they last. And of course, why they cost more to buy. Though you may find, as many Michelin buyers do, they end up costing less to own.”

A Look at How Michelin Persuades You

In just about every advertisement ever made, there is at least one aspect of the rhetorical triangle used to send a message to an audience. The rhetorical triangle is made up of logos, pathos, and ethos. Together these three concepts can have a large impact on the audience they are trying to influence. When analyzing a cultural artifact it is important to look at the audience in which it is trying to persuade. This will help to provide a better understanding of what message the artifact is trying to convey. In this Michelin ad, pathos is used in that they decide to include a cute baby along with the idea of protecting the viewer’s children; logos is used to show that people need to pay the higher cost for their tires because they are more trustworthy; and ethos uses the Michelin Man to add credibility to the ad.

When analyzing an advertisement using the rhetorical triangle an important first step is to figure out the audience in which it is trying to persuade. For this ad the target audience would be drivers with families. Maybe more specifically than that drivers who are mothers. Mothers would be the target because women whether they have children or not tend to be drawn to ads with babies on them. It might be a womanly instinct or maybe just because babies are cute, but it is safe to say ads with babies in them are usually aimed toward women. You could, however, argue that this ad is aimed toward men. //Many people assume// that it is the father figures duty to keep his family safe. This means that a father could look at this advertisement and think that he has to purchase that particular brand of tire because it is safer for his family. There can be many arguments for which this advertisement is geared toward but, I feel the strongest argument can be made for drivers who are mothers.

In this advertisement, it is clear that pathos is used strongly to sway the audience. There are many emotions that go into this advertisement because it brings up the safety of the viewer’s family. Some emotions that might arise from seeing this flyer regarding the viewer’s family’s safety could be worry and fear. These emotions could come up when driving in a car because you never know if on the way to the grocery store you might get in an accident. You have no control over other drivers and therefore the safety of your family in the car. For this ad, Michelin is using the baby so that prospective customers are led to believe that if you buy their more expensive tires, then their children will be safer. It is explained on the ad that their tires cost more money because they spend more time in the developmental, testing, and manufacturing stages than other tires. This leads people to believe that Michelin actually does produce safer products.

Logos means to give a purpose for the viewer to even care about their ad. The purpose of this ad is to convince the audience to spend the extra money to buy Michelin tires instead of the cheaper, less safe brands. Michelin makes it seem like they really want you to buy their tires because nothing bad could happen if their tires are the ones on your car. In the paragraph on the ad, they talk about why their tires are more expensive than other tires. According to Consumer Search, Michelin holds two spots in the list of the top five customer rated tires (comsumersearch.com). //The evidence shows that// customers are very satisfied with this particular brand of tires. //However, does the evidence I have cited prove conclusively that// the more expensive Michelin tires are safer than highly rated cheaper tires? The National Safe Tire Coalition discusses how two out of three drivers does not know how to tell if their tires are bald (safetires.org). This fact is important to consider because consumers should know when their tires are no longer safe. Both the Michelin tires and the cheaper tires are going to last for a long time. They are also both going to become bald. The key is to know when they are becoming unsafe so that you can get new ones.

This advertisement is suggesting that their tires will last longer than the cheaper tires. When comparing the best budget all season tire, the Hankook Optimo H272, and the max performance, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, the best budget tire actually has the best mileage warranty. If Michelin has such great tires, why does their tire have 80,000 fewer miles covered on their warranty? Maybe it isn’t worth the extra money to get Michelin tires if the cheaper ones with a longer lasting warranty can be acquired instead.

In order to successfully sway an audience toward what you want, it is important that your advertisement has credibility or ethos. For the Michelin ad, the credibility that is used is the picture of the Michelin Man. Many people would see that icon and know that it is a symbol for Michelin Tires. In my opinion, when companies add their insignia to an advertisement it captures the attention of the viewer’s more than if they didn’t add it. Michelin is already a big brand so it doesn’t have to add any other big names to give it credibility.

To convey the message that mothers should pay more for Michelin tires because they are safer pathos, logos, and ethos were used. Each of these three concepts was used because some people use emotion more than logic and credibility or maybe they use credibility more than logic and emotion. Together these three concepts create an audience in which the ad is targeted toward. In this case, it is aimed toward women drivers who are also mothers. Pathos uses the baby to touch the emotions of mothers. Logos is used to convey the message that mothers should pay more for tires because it is safer for her baby. Finally, using the Michelin Man in the advertisement gives it its needed ethos.

Works Cited “Neuromarketing.” Neurosciencemarketing.com. Baby Pictures Really Do Grab Our Attention. 29 Feb. 2008. Web. 22 March 2011. “Tires: Reviews.” Consumersearch.com. Consumer Search, February 2010. Web. 22 March 2011. “The National Safe Tire Coalition.” Safetires.org. Safe Tires, n.d. Web. 22 March 2011. “Tire Warranty.” Hankooktireusa.com. Replacement Warranty, n.d. Web. 28 March 2011. “Pilot Sport PS2.” Michelinman.com. Warranty, n.d. Web. 28 March 2011. **__Alyssa Pavel__****__--(wont stay formatted right..__****__keeps saving automatically like this, sorry!)__** Assignment: Focus: Organization: Support: Proofreading:
 * fit requirments, and explained each of the three appeals as well as their connection to the rhetorical triangle
 * make sure your paper stays in the tense you are writing with, past or present, but not both
 * language seems fit to your audience, and demonstrates rhetorical awareness
 * good job staying on target and focusing on the rhetoric used to advertise your image
 * transitions to paragraphs could be better, seems abrupt when it goes straight into "logos means" from talking about pathos.
 * your paragraphs are easy to tell apart and orderly with your thesis which I like
 * good job breaking down the three appeals to explain how they are used as rhetoric, good details to back them all up
 * for APA, double check that your in text citations are all correct, I think its article title if no author is listed, not the web address.
 * try adding a naysayer into one of your arguments to strengthen the paper
 * "This advertisement is suggesting that their tires will last longer than the cheaper tires" clerify who "their" is since it's a new paragraph
 * "Each of these three concepts was used because some...." replace was with are or were depending on what tense you are writing inIn conclusion, your paper was easy to read because the paragraphs are all nicely put together and fit appropriately, good job!