Critical intro

Hello readers! We are English101S students from the University of Maryland. We are all female students in scholars programs at UMD and are writing this blog to provide an analysis of the Women's Rights Movement from the 1960s to today. As women, we either have or will experience gender inequality in our lifetimes. Whether it be being paid less than a man for the same job, or facing discrimination based on our gender, we will all eventually experience some form of gender inequality. As such, we chose to analyze the use of rhetoric in commercials that utilize gender to promote their products. Through our in-depth analyses of these texts, we hope that you too will understand how women's rights and rhetoric are linked.

The Women's Rights Movement of the 1960s had a major role in promoting gender equality as well as bringing attention the gender inequalities in American society. These gender inequalities were often found in popular culture, and so we chose two texts which use women to promote their products in very different ways. The first text is a 1960s Xerox commercial while the second text is a 2017 Audi Commercial. Both texts rely on appealing to ethos in order to enforce their credibility, thus the 1960s Xerox Commercial relies on using the male perspective to promote its product and demonstrate their understanding of office culture. Meanwhile,  the 2017 Audi Commercial uses voiceover to show gender equality from a father's point of view and to show their understanding of families.

In this blog, we analyzed the major arguments used by both commercials in achieving their goal of attracting consumers all the while using women in their marketing. We determined that both commercials effectively use stasis theory by identifying a problem and using exigence to make their products seem like the solution to these problems. This blog analyzes the stasis theory at work as one commercial uses negative stereotypes of women while the other empowers women as views their product as a way to empower women.

We also analyzed how the commercials use an appeal to logos (logic) to support their arguments that buying their products will promote gender equality. This blog delves into an exploration of the advertisers use logic, or lack logic, in promoting their products. More specifically, we explore why the sexism used in the 1960s Xerox Commercial appealed to an audience in a logical way when it clearly would not have worked today. Conversely, we explore how the 2017 Audi Commercial uses its own brand of logic that uses feminism to make their cars more attractive to buyers.

Another aspect of advertisements is kairos and in turn how timing determines the choices that people make. The 1960s were characterized by the Women's Rights Movement which promoted social equality for women. Despite this change in the social scene, sexism was still prevalent throughout popular culture, especially advertisements. We determined that the 1960s Xerox commercial utilizes the commonplace sexism to disparage women and appeal to men. This contrasts heavily with the 2017 Audi Commercial which uses a hopeful tone and a theme of female empowerment. 2017 is characterized by the growing call for gender equality and acceptance of women as equivalents to men, which Audi capitalizes in its commercial. These concepts are further analyzed in the blog.

Along with kairos, pathos, or emotional appeal, is one of the primary ways in which advertisers appeal to their audience. We evaluated how the 1960s Xerox commercial uses humor and female sexuality to appeal to the male perspective. The xerox company purposefully targets men for specific reasons that are linked to logos and ethos, which we explain in our blog. The 2017 Audi commercial uses a tone of hope and empowerment while juxtaposing male and female characters in order to spark attention in its audience. Gender inequality is a serious concern that is still present in today's society, so it is essential that people stand up and fight for what is right! We hope that our blog reveals that women should not be used by the media to sell products better, but also that women should be valued and treated equally to men. We encourage all of our readers to support women, not because it will improve their reputation, but because they truly believe in gender equality. The blog posts were organized in such a way that it provokes the reader's curiosity and critical thinking. We posted the intended audience and some of the appeals before major arguments and kairos so that readers can think about and even research about the topic and devise their own argument before reading ours.

Pathos in the 1960's Xerox Machine Commercial

The 1960's Xerox Machine Commercial makes a strong appeal to the audience's emotion. The commercial utilizes music, diction, and a testimonial from a female secretary to make this appeal. The commercial opens with a female secretary describing her many faults when it comes to completing her work assignments. The music that is plays as she speaks emphasizes her incompetence by playing a tune that signifies failure and lack of intelligence. The music is also light and humorous, which makes the woman appear as some sort of joke. The use of music here is an appeal to pathos because it shows the audience that the woman is unintelligent and it allows them to laugh at her many failures. Although the woman is clearly incompetent she appears happy, the reason being is she is able to complete her professional duties with the help Xerox machine. When showcasing the product the woman uses words with positive connotations to describe the machine. She raves about its ability and how it has helped her complete her secretarial duties in short time.  She also gives a positive testimonial while showcasing the product. She makes it evident how the machine has assisted and how happy she is. These positive words appeal to the audience's emotions because it makes them feel good about buying the product since it's described to be a quality product.

Major Argument in the 1960's Xerox Machine Commercial

The 1960's Xerox Machine commercial argues that women in the workplace tend to be incompetent and need extra assistance in order to complete their, in this case, secretarial duties. It argues that Xerox Machine will be able to provide this assistance and will become a staple in the average secretary's daily duties and work environment. The argument is founded on the sexist attitudes of the 1960's and appeals to that concept. It is also based on and appeals to the fact women in the 1960's often worked low skill positions, such as being secretaries. It disregards and lessens the capability women have in the workplace. It also portrays a negative and false archetype of the American women who chooses to work, which is that these women are unintelligent and ineffective. The stasis theory is implemented effectively in this argument. The use of fact and definition stasis theory is evident in this commercial. It defines the existence of a problem, which is incompetence and the lack of efficiency in the workplace. It also emphasizes a negative stereotype of women to prove the existence of this problem and to also show an example of this problem. It then uses the existence of this problem to push their product as the solution. It is a extremely effective method of selling their product.

Kairos in the 1960s Commercial

In 1960's America sexist rhetoric was rampant and common. Women dealt with and fought against discrimination and gender inequality in society, specifically in the workplace. Women were often expected and pressured to stay at home and fill domestic duties, such as taking care of the kids, preparing meals, and cleaning the home. There, however was a percentage of women who did hold jobs, but those women often worked at low-level positions, such as secretarial jobs or positions that they were typically thought as "women's work", like teaching and nursing. Men were often thought as the breadwinners in the family and held higher, managerial positions at work. Women were thought to be unintelligent or too fragile to hold higher or rise above mediocrity in their work. This is seen in the Xerox commercial. The woman is clearly incompetent and cannot complete her secretarial duties. The woman uses the Xerox machine to help her complete one of her duties and please her male boss. This aid appeals to the sexist attitude towards women in the workplace that was common in the 1960's. This commercial is still relevant today because women still face inequalities in the workplace and are often thought of as incapable in a male dominated profession. In addition, many commercials to rely on negative stereotypes of women to promote and sell their products. It is timely because this issue continues to occur. It deserves our attention and is important because it negatively effects women and is still widely accepted or seen as normal. 

Kairos of #Passtheball: The Exigence of the Issue

Sexism is not a loud issue. It normally does not involve violence and when it occurs there is normally not a big scene created. Sexism is those little comments in the middle of a conversation, the assumptions that women are less, the idea that women cannot do everything a man can. Why is this still an issue? In August of 2015, two females graduated from Army Ranger School, arguably the toughest physical endeavor that anyone can endure. The NFL is introducing female play-by-play commentators and analysts. However, we still have people like Cam Newton who cannot seem to wrap their heads around the fact that women are equal to men. We still have a president that makes sexist comments on the fly.  No we are not talking about the 1960s, this is present day. Cam Newton's comment was just this past week in fact. Sexism is a pressing issue that just won't go away. Until it is eliminated, sexism will always be exigent. The #Passtheball advertisement provides celebrities with the platform to support gender equality. The advertisement has celebrities pledge to speak up for women and treat them equally, specifically in terms of sports. Ellen said it best: "it's up to all of us to keep it going".

Pass the Ball: Ethos

The ethos used in this ad to raise awareness for the National Women’s Soccer Team, and in general, women’s rights, is essential in delivering the main message behind this video. This commercial consists of multiple very popular celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Julia Roberts, Zendaya, David Beckham, Reese Witherspoon, and James Corden. By having well-known and admired celebrities speak about women’s rights, this ad successfully encourages its audience to join the fight for women. As these celebrities “pass the ball” for their wives, mothers, and daughters, they are revealing that they stand with women and hope others will choose to do the same. One of the major issues that led to the making of this video is the current pay gap between the Men’s and Women’s National Soccer Teams. Therefore, by including David Beckham, a male professional soccer player, in this video, the producers argue that even the male players support the women and believe they should have equal rights. I believe this ad was extremely successful mainly due to its ethos because if they hadn’t included celebrities, it wouldn’t have attracted such a large audience. In addition, two television hosts, Ellen DeGeneres and James Corden, spoke in this video, and as a result, shared the video on their shows, which also attracted a wider audience. In my opinion, the difference in pay between male and female athletes is ridiculous and unfair, so by watching this video, I was definitely encouraged and inspired to “pass the ball” and take a stand for women’s rights.

#Passtheball: Stasis Theory at Work

Everyone's favorite talk show host (and person in general) Ellen DeGeneres is known for using her celebrity status to not only give away a ton of free stuff, but also to promote gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Her most recent crusade for gender equality is the #Passtheball campaign, in which she joins other celebrities including Zendaya and David Beckham to bring attention to the National Women's Soccer League. The ad is attention-grabbing and moves fluidly as a soccer ball is passed from celebrity to celebrity, each with their own unique reason for promoting women's rights. Although the commercial's tone of female empowerment seems pretty clear, the overarching message of soccer and gender equality is a little more complex. Thus, the commercial uses stasis theory to break down the relationship between gender equality and women's soccer.

This commercial's major argument is that in supporting the National Women's Soccer League, you will in turn support gender equality. The commercial uses the "evaluation and value" stasis theory in which a cause's ethical value is established in order to persuade an audience to support it. This is especially evident when Ellen begins the commercial by saying that the athletes "are great role models for our girls." By establishing the usefulness of the athlete, Ellen argues that the #Passtheball campaign promotes female empowerment, in turn establishing a correlation between the National Women's Soccer League and gender equality. The value of the campaign is further expounded as each celebrity states their reason for supporting the campaign. By saying that they support it for their daughters or their mothers, the celebrities maintain that the campaign is something necessary for their family. Thus, the celebrities highly value #Passtheball which, besides making a great case for ethos, ultimately confirms the major argument.

Ethos of the 2017 Audi Superbowl Commercial

Establishing credibility is one of the most important agenda to accomplish when making a commercial. Once the audience believes that the creator's interest lies in providing them with the best possible product, they are more likely to buy what is being sold. In the 2017 Audi Superbowl commercial, the creators strengthen their argument, the endorsement for the equal pay for equal work, through conveying this concept from a male’s point of view. The father is the narrator and he expresses concerns for his daughter and ultimately about the rights of women. The concept itself already captures most of the female portion of the audience, but because this is told from a male’s perspective, it also engages the male audience. In addition, the company builds their credibility by somewhat digressing from their main purpose, to sell cars. The commercial merely mentions or promotes the business and the car’s performance. This shows the audience their genuine interest in conveying the message because it demonstrates that the company wants to address such sensitive issue even though it may cost them harm or cause potential backlash on their business

Ethos: Gender Perspective and Persuasion

It's hard to imagine this Xerox Commercial being aired today with all its blatantly sexist overtones and its use of the sexy secretary archetype, however when Xerox first released this commercial they weren't trendsetters rather than following a well-worn mold of sexist advertisements before them. Although the 1960s saw a burgeoning feminist movement, the "mad men" culture continued to play an important role in media and in advertising. So, why did advertisers make the conscious choice to use this sort of gender dynamic in their advertisements so often? The answer may lie in the employment of ethos through appealing to middle-class businessmen.

In rhetoric, ethos is conveyed in order to establish credibility. The connection between credibility and persuasion seems pretty solid; obviously you believe a person's argument if they have an expertise on the subject. However, ethos has far reaching implications since it is inextricably linked to pathos (emotional appeal) and logos (reason) which also impact the effectiveness of an argument.

In the case of the Xerox commercial, the advertisers use the dumb female secretary as a way to demonstrate how simple their product is. Since the office was dominated by males in the 1960s, the advertisers knew that their target audience would be the middle-class businessmen rather than their minority female coworkers. Xerox establishes their credibility by demonstrating the product in the commercial so that their audience can see for themselves how wonderful their product is. Xerox also conveys ethos by using the male perspective. The product isn't for personal use, but rather for their secretaries to use. In showing this gender dynamic, the Xerox company presents themselves as relatable since they too subscribe to gender roles in their office. Thus, Xerox seems like a company that understands office culture from the inside out which makes their product more appealing.

Logos in the 2017 Audi Commercial: The Truth Behind the Commercial

The logos used by Audi in their 2017 car commercial is overall, very effective. For sure, Audi uses logic to persuade its audience to purchase their cars by focusing on gender equality and the movements that they support. In a way, Audi is basically stating that since they support gender equality, people should buy their cars over other cars. The producers of this commercial specifically utilize logos when the voice of the father reveals current gender standards and facts about how men are valued more than women. By doing so, they focus in on how society wrongfully looks down on women, and seconds later, they contrast these viewpoints with their own, which uncovers that Audi disagrees with common opinions, and values women equally to men. At the end of the commercial, “Audi of America is committed to equal pay for equal work” appears on the screen, proving that they have joined the movement and support the fight for women. This logic appeals to the audience very strongly, convincing women all around that Audi supports them, which increases a woman’s desire to purchase their product. However, this commercial definitely chooses to leave out some important statistics, including for example, the fact that Audi’s executive board only includes two women out of 14 total people. Or, perhaps, the fact that only 12% of Audi’s senior management is female. By not including these facts, the audience is blinded from the truth, and forced to believe that Audi fully supports women in the workforce. As a result, the logic used in this commercial was successful, but primarily because it tricks the audience into believing Audi is an active supporter of the equal pay for equal work movement.

Major Argument in the 2017 Audi Commerical

While definitely attempting to appeal to its audience in order to sell its product, this 2017 Audi Commercial argued for much more than simply a new car. By filming and releasing this commercial, Audi reveals their desire to fight for equal pay for equal work in America. In this commercial, Audi focuses on the steps our society needs to take to create gender equality nationwide. The stasis theory is very effective in this argument, as this car company centers its attention on the actions that are essential for this problem. At the beginning of the video, we hear the father of a young girl curiously question how he is going to tell his daughter that she will always be worth less than any man she ever meets. In a sense, he questions, what should we do about this inequality? What actions will allow his daughter to be equal to men? Why should he have to tell his daughter that she is not equal to men? The answer is, he shouldn’t! Audi stresses that fathers should not have to tell their daughters that they are valued less, and they should be telling them that they have the skill, intelligence, and power to do anything that a man can do! Along with many other companies, Audi decided to join the fight for the equal pay of women all around the world. Audi uses this fearless, young girl to prove that women should not be valued less than men and that they should not have limitations in the workforce! Audi offers this proposal, revealing the good consequences that will come if a woman is treated equally, which is reflected through the little girl defeating the boys her age in the race. Audi uses this commercial to prove that they stand with women and the equal pay movement, which makes their car brand much more attractive to people who have the same beliefs.