Introduction
The advertisement “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” is effective, because it uses, firstly, logos, to make a logical argument about how we see ourselves differently than others see us, and secondly, pathos, because it shows that we see ourselves in a negative light, while others see us in a positive light, therefore giving us self-confidence. The advertisement uses logos and pathos to sway people feel a sense of a specific agreement, which can make them want to buy the products. In the advertisement, logos of describing and re-describing a person are used leading to self-awareness. People try to make themselves look different so that they can feel different but in the reality, they cannot change the way the world sees them. In the video advertisement, the women sit and give a description of their facial qualities to a male who does not see them and has even never them.
Several brands are using logos, and pathos to target women to purchase their products. However, they are several. In the advertisement “Dove Real Beauty Sketches,” there is pathos of happiness vs. insecurity, ethos of self-awareness, and logos of describing and re-describing oneself. The paper provides a rhetorical analysis regarding the use and effectiveness of logos and pathos in “Dove Real Beauty Sketches.”
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Dove Real Beauty Sketches: Advertisement Analysis".
Use of Logos and pathos
Logos
The advertisement uses logos. The slogan “Real Beauty is more than Skin Deep,” makes an individual watching the ad to feel as if it is not physical looks that matter but the inside is what defines a person. The advertisement uses a logical argument with two main parts: the first part is that it shows that how we perceive ourselves is different from how other people perceive us. In the advertisement this is done by an illustrator who draws two portraits of individuals, one portrait of how they see themselves and the second portrait about how others see them. For several years, we have battled with self-esteem concerns. Some people feel that they are not looking good, others feel they are fat and so on. The advertisement targeted such people to make them feel that the way they perceive themselves is not the same way other people perceive them. Logos are used to illustrate how a character of low-esteem can affect our lives. Some people have a feeling that they are not beautiful. Such feeling distracts them from enjoying the beauties in their lives. If we appreciate the way look, then we will definitely feel happy. In the advertisement, one of the women states that, ”It impacts the choices and the friends that we make, the jobs we apply for, how we treat our children, it impacts everything. It couldn’t be more critical to your happiness.”. The advertisement is one of the best way to encourage someone with low self-esteem.
The second part of the logical argument is to show how we see ourselves is mostly negative and how others see us is mostly positive. The advertisement provides the logos of self-description, how an individual views and thinks of themselves leading to self-awareness. People sometimes try to change the way they feel about themselves. Some try to change their clothing while others try to put some make-up. However, it cannot change the way other people can see us. In the advertisement, this is done by showing the difference between the portrait based on the individual’s view of him or herself and the view of others: the individual always finds the second portrait as more “beautiful”. In the advertisement, women sit there and give a description of themselves to a man who does not see them and has even never seen them. They give different and funny descriptions such as their weird chins or their crow’s feet. They are portraying a feeling of negative believe in their bodies by pointing out all that features. However, the big twists come when the women talk to a different person who also gives a description of their facial qualities to the same man. So now, the women have been seen by someone else. Then, the man makes a drawing of the both characteristics. The women are surprised when they come back to see their pictures. It is evident that the way the judge or see themselves is not the same way other people see them. Generally, people are very harsh with the way they see themselves. We do not see the good things in us. It is quite different and even worse than how other people see us. Towards the end of the advertisement, it states that, “You are more beautiful than you think”. We should appreciate the amount of beauty we have.
Pathos
Pathos is one of the rhetorical method used in “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” to appeal and persuade the audience in an emotional way. The advertisement used pathos to pull the strings and connect the feelings of people towards others. The video is more of a beauty campaign since it makes women to feel much better about themselves, and also more confident. In the video, a professional drawing or forensic artists pay attention to an individual describing themselves, then lists to a different account of similar description. Then, he shows the individual the two sketches indicating how women are harsh on themselves while other people see them as beautiful beings. The video gives an impression that all women are appreciated by Dove and are considered beautiful. The hidden purpose by Dove is that it cares for people and consumers should purchase it. Even though the message is purposely meant for marketing, it is highly emotional and several women can relate and respond to it positively.
This creates pathos in the audience, since some people will identify with the feeling that perceptions of ourselves are different than how others see us. In the advertisement, this is done by showing personal reactions to the portraits, some people emotionally moved or crying when they see their “good” portrait. The women get emotional when they see a portrait of themselves drawn by a different person. They learn that the way they feel about themselves is not the same way people see them.
Effectiveness of the use pathos and logos in the advertisement
The advertisement is effective because it uses two rhetorical techniques: pathos and logos, making its argument more convincing by using different techniques. The logical argument mentioned above also has a dimension of pathos. Pathos are used in an advertisement to give confident attitude to women’s personal appearance (Gross and Gonchar, 2014). This is evident from the tag line, ”You are more beautiful than you think”. It makes us rethink about our opinions regarding the way we feel about ourselves and discover the things that makes us unique individuals.
The advertisement’s logical argument is also effective because it has two parts: firstly, It tries to show that there is a difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us, and, secondly, it shows that the first is positive and the second is negative. In the advertisement, the viewer sees two different portraits and also the “beautiful” and “ugly” nature of each portrait. The use of logos used to bring together the views of several women about themselves and create one large idea regarding the way they view themselves which is different from the way other people see them. This is a clear reflection on how we view ourselves. We sometimes think that we are ugly while other people see us being beautiful. According to the advertisement, it is apparent that we tend devalue our own beauty and view ourselves as being unattractive. The sketch provided by the artist on the view of the women equates the view that our believes regarding our own beauty is different from others. When other people describe us, the resulting sketches are more appealing indicating that we are usually prettier that we ever believe.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the advertisement “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” is effective, because it uses, logos, to make a logical argument about how we see ourselves differently than others see us, and pathos, because it shows that we see ourselves in a negative light, while others see us in a positive light, therefore giving us self-confidence. The advertisement is effective because it shows that we are very judgmental on our appearances. In the advertisement, we see women describing themselves negatively and harshly by pointing out every single flaw they have. This is different from how other people can describe us. The advertisement shows that we should learn to appreciate ourselves which is the basis of self-confident.
- Gross, Sarah, & Gonchar, Michael. Skills practice, persuading an audience using logos, pathos and ethos. Web. The New York Times. 17 January 2014.
