1. ETHOS AND ADVERTISING

2. Much of the persuasiveness of advertising comes from ETHOS, the tool of rhetoric which persuades us based on how we feel about the messenger.
You use ethos to persuade when you say something to a friend like, “Let me borrow your car. You know me, I won’t wreck it.”
In many ads, ethos works by presenting us with a spokesperson we are supposed to want to be like, or by implying that the people who use the product are a group we would want to consider ourselves part of.
What’s implied is: BUY this product; then you will be like this person (or group) that you admire.

3. One thing to remember as you look through these ads is that all persuasive acts take their audience into account (or, at least, they should). So some of the people you see in these ads might not be a greatly persuasive messenger for you, but might have a great ethos for a very different target audience, such as Cauthen’s parents.

4. With each of the following ads, brainstorm in your group and ask yourself:
How does this ad use ethos to persuade us to buy the product?
Or, in other words: Who is it the ad wants us to admire and associate with the product being sold? Why is that person (or group) seen as being admirable?

13. Look back through your notes about how persuasive these various messengers are – how good an ethos they have for you – and figure out which of these people is the MOST persuasive (who has the BEST ethos for you).
What does this mean about you and what kinds of things you value?