Source: Activity Assignment 1-2
Difficulty: Introductory | Prerequisites: None, though familiarity with basic persuasive techniques (ethos, pathos, logos) is helpful.
This topic sits near the start of an introductory English course and asks you to do something deceptively simple: watch advertisements and explain how they work. The real skill being built here is rhetorical analysis, the ability to identify which persuasive strategies a text (visual, written, or spoken) deploys and why they land with a particular audience. You do not need prior coursework, but if you already know what ethos, pathos, and logos mean, you will move through this material faster. By the end, you should be able to look at any advertisement and name the emotional, logical, and ethical levers it pulls.
Advertisements are not just selling products; they use deliberate rhetorical strategies (appeals to emotion, shared identity, social responsibility) to shape how audiences think and feel. This set of lecture notes examines four ads that lean heavily on pathos and ethos, covering themes of collective solidarity, anti-racism, and corporate environmental commitment.
Rhetorical analysis
The practice of examining how a text persuades its audience by identifying the strategies, appeals, and techniques at work.
In simple terms, this means picking apart why an ad makes you feel a certain way and how it was designed to do that.
Pathos
A persuasive appeal to the audience's emotions, such as sympathy, fear, pride, or anger.
Think of it as the "heartstrings" move: anything in an ad that is there to make you feel something rather than think something.
Ethos
A persuasive appeal based on the credibility, authority, or moral character of the speaker or brand.
In simple terms, this is the reason you trust the message, because of who is delivering it or the values they represent.
Logos
A persuasive appeal to logic, facts, data, or structured reasoning.
Think of it as the evidence-based move: statistics, cause-and-effect arguments, demonstrations of how a product works.
Collective solidarity (as a rhetorical strategy)
Framing the audience as part of a group that shares values, struggles, or goals, so the message feels personal and inclusive.
In simple terms, it is the "we're all in this together" angle, used to make individuals feel that supporting the ad's cause is an extension of their own identity.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
A business strategy in which a company publicly commits to social, environmental, or ethical causes beyond profit.
Think of it as a brand saying "we care about more than money," which doubles as both a genuine initiative and a reputation play.
Scapegoating
Blaming an identifiable group for a broader problem, often without evidence, in order to redirect frustration or fear.
In simple terms, it is the act of pointing the finger at a group (in this context, people of Asian descent during COVID-19) for something they did not cause.
Both advertisements carry the same central message: individuals can overcome adversity when they have the support of others who understand what they are going through.
The rhetorical strategy is pathos-driven collective solidarity. The viewer is invited to identify with a shared struggle and to see community support as the solution.
Key emotional lever: the contrast between isolation ("one might be nothing") and unity ("together as a society they are something").
The ads do not sell a product directly. They position a brand alongside a universal human value, which is an ethos move layered on top of the emotional appeal.
Real-world application: this is the same strategy charities, political campaigns, and public health bodies use. Any time a message says "we" instead of "you," it is leveraging collective solidarity.
This advertisement addresses the rise in racial attacks against people of Asian descent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rhetorical strategy combines pathos (frustration, injustice, empathy for victims) with a moral ethos appeal ("it's on us as a community to say that this is not right").
The ad reframes a public health crisis as a social justice issue, asking viewers to separate the virus from the scapegoating.
It uses the audience's sense of fairness and community responsibility to motivate action.
Real-world application: public service announcements routinely use this structure, naming a problem, assigning moral responsibility to the audience, and implying that inaction is complicity.
Apple positions itself as a leader in the fight against climate change, using its brand credibility (ethos) and the emotional weight of environmental concern (pathos) to build goodwill.
The rhetorical strategy is CSR messaging: the company is not selling a specific product in this ad but rather its values and long-term commitments.
The implicit argument: if Apple, a major corporation, can take this step, so can other companies and individuals. This is a logos-adjacent appeal, a kind of argument by example.
The audience is positioned as both beneficiary (future generations) and potential participant (individuals motivated to act).
Real-world application: CSR campaigns from large brands almost always serve a dual purpose, building reputation while pushing genuine initiatives. When analysing these, the exam-relevant question is always "who benefits and how?"
Students often think an ad can only use one appeal at a time (pathos or ethos or logos). In practice, most effective ads layer several appeals simultaneously. Identify all of them, not just the dominant one.
Students sometimes confuse the message of an ad with the product being sold. Many social-cause ads do not sell a product at all; the "product" is a value, a behaviour change, or brand reputation. Your analysis should address what is being promoted, which is not always a thing you can buy.
Students frequently describe their personal reaction to an ad ("I liked it because...") and treat that as analysis. Personal response is not rhetorical analysis. The question is how the ad is constructed to produce a response, not whether you had one.
Students often assume CSR advertising is purely altruistic. It is worth noting in your analysis that CSR messaging serves commercial interests (brand loyalty, positive press, regulatory goodwill) alongside any genuine commitment.
⚠️ Be able to identify multiple rhetorical appeals within a single advertisement. Exam questions will often ask you to name more than one.
⚠️ Know the difference between describing an ad's content and analysing its rhetorical strategy. "The ad shows people coming together" is description. "The ad uses collective solidarity as a pathos appeal to make the viewer feel included" is analysis.
⚠️ Expect at least one question asking you to evaluate whether a CSR ad is persuasive and why. The answer should reference ethos (brand credibility), pathos (emotional stakes of the cause), and the dual commercial/social function of CSR.
⚠️ Scapegoating as a concept may appear in questions about bias, propaganda, or media literacy. Be ready to define it and give an example from the course material.
True or false: An advertisement that does not mention a specific product cannot be analysed rhetorically.
False. Rhetorical analysis applies to any persuasive text, including social-cause ads and CSR messaging.
Fill in the blank: An appeal to the audience's emotions is called a ______ appeal.
Pathos.
True or false: Ethos refers to the use of statistics and data to persuade.
False. Ethos refers to credibility and character. The use of data and logic is logos.
Fill in the blank: When a group is unfairly blamed for a problem they did not cause, this is called ______.
Scapegoating.
True or false: CSR advertising always serves only altruistic purposes.
False. CSR messaging typically serves both genuine social goals and commercial interests such as brand reputation.
Q: Identify the primary rhetorical appeal used in the "Stronger Together" advertisement and explain how it functions.
A: The primary appeal is pathos, specifically collective solidarity. The ad frames adversity as a shared experience and positions community support as the means to overcome it, inviting the viewer to feel that unity is both emotionally necessary and morally right.
Q: How does the "Fight the Virus. Fight the Bias" advertisement combine more than one rhetorical appeal?
A: It layers pathos (frustration and empathy for those targeted by racial attacks) with an ethos appeal rooted in moral responsibility. The audience is asked to see themselves as part of a community that has a duty to reject scapegoating, which engages both their emotions and their sense of ethical obligation.
Q: What is the rhetorical function of Apple's "A Climate Change Promise" advertisement, and how does CSR messaging serve as a persuasive strategy?
A: The ad uses CSR messaging to build brand ethos: Apple positions itself as a credible, values-driven company. The persuasive function is twofold: it generates goodwill and brand loyalty while also using the emotional weight of climate concern (pathos) to associate the brand with a cause the audience cares about.
Q: A classmate argues that "Stronger Together" and "United We Stand" are essentially the same ad. Do you agree? Use rhetorical analysis to support your answer.
A: While both ads share a pathos-driven message of collective resilience, a full analysis would compare their specific rhetorical choices: imagery, tone, target audience, and the balance of ethos versus pathos. Two ads can share a theme and still deploy different strategies, so "essentially the same" is an oversimplification. The exam-ready answer identifies shared appeals and then distinguishes execution.
Q: Why is it important to distinguish between personal reaction and rhetorical analysis when writing about advertisements?
A: Personal reaction describes how an individual feels. Rhetorical analysis examines how the text is constructed to produce that feeling in a target audience. An exam answer that stays at "I found it moving" is description, not analysis. The analytical move is to name the strategy (e.g. pathos through collective solidarity) and explain the mechanism.
This material connects directly to media literacy, which asks you to evaluate how messages are constructed across all media, not just ads. The same rhetorical triangle (ethos, pathos, logos) will reappear in essay writing, speech analysis, and any unit on argumentation.
The anti-racism and CSR themes tie into broader discussions of social justice in communication and ethical persuasion, topics that surface in both English composition and communications courses.
If your course covers propaganda or political rhetoric later, the concept of scapegoating introduced here will be directly relevant.
rhetorical analysis, advertisement analysis, ad analysis, persuasive techniques, ethos pathos logos, emotional appeal, credibility appeal, logical appeal, collective solidarity, unity messaging, CSR, corporate social responsibility, scapegoating, racial bias, anti-Asian racism, COVID-19 scapegoating, media literacy, persuasion in advertising, social cause advertising, brand values, public service announcement, PSA analysis, English composition, FIU English, Periods in English Literature