In
"The Real Cost Commercial: "Your Skin"", the United States
Food and Drug Administration emphasizes both the costs and effects smoking can
bring to an individual while giving an over exaggerated depiction of what can
happen as a result. It also implicates the health risks and complications to come
along with smoking tobacco. Although the appeals to logos are limited, the
appeals to pathos and ethos are clear. Especially ethos since the United States
Department of Food and Drug Administration created the commercial.
The video consists of a young girl buying cigarettes, but the weirdness begin when the cashier says “It’s going to cost you more than that.” The girl then proceeds to rip her skin off while she and the cashier exchange looks, and the girl then places her skin on the counter and leaves. A speaker then states “What does a pack of smokes cost? Smoking can cause wrinkles prematurely at a very young age. What will a pack of smokes cost you?” Although this commercial is very short, it may be one of the most important smoking commercials made. This argument is not only effective but it is the truth, unlike other smoking commercials that bombard watchers with obvious facts, this one offers a realistic result of smoking before it even begins. The intended audience of this commercial is mainly the youth because it addresses the fact that smoking can give a person wrinkles, in the year 2015 no teenager or young adult wants wrinkles. It begins with the appeal to ethos (USDFDA) solidifies this argument because these are the people who complete testing and approve if food and drugs are safe to use, what person isn’t going to listen to them? It then integrates pathos which involves the interaction between the girl and the cashier, and the moment the girl rips the skin off of her face. This is effective as well because not only does the girl feel ashamed, the cashier feels ashamed as well for allowing her to give up a part of her body just for a pack of cigarettes. The argument comes full circle hen it appeals to logos by asking “What will a pack of smokes cost you?” This allows the watcher to ask themselves the question no one ever considers when buying cigarettes, and prompt then not to buy them, especially after the vivid example. This is an important issue in our country and enough people have lost something and even died over cigarettes, this could’ve been avoided. |
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