ANALYZING PERSUASIVE APPEALS IN ADVERTISEMENTS: 2005

Heather Glover 

Rhetorical Analysis: Soft and Beautiful Ad

            In describing the unique quality of protection its hair relaxer offers, Soft & Beautiful might have chosen any number of words—great, maximum, and superlative are but a few that come to mind. Ultimate, however, is the word printed in large, white lettering at the top of this ad; it sounds more extraordinary than great or maximum, yet it does not alienate readers as might the less familiar superlative. Ultimate, too, suggests a premium product, a product that offers not protection, but the best available protection.

            In case ULTIMATE PROTECTION fails to absolutely convince users of hair relaxers that Soft & Beautiful Relaxer is the best, the text in the lower left corner of the ad assures consumers that this product contains "an exclusive blend of five emollients and emulsifiers that creates a layer of protection during relaxing, when your hair needs it most."   While the average reader may not recognize the words emollients and emulsifiers, her lack of knowledge will not necessarily prevent her from purchasing a box of Soft & Beautiful.  Whatever she thinks emollients and emulsifiers to mean, "an exclusive blend" tells her that emollients and emulsifiers are good for her hair, that having a group of them is preferable to having just one or two, and that the group contained in Soft & Beautiful Relaxer is unique to Soft & Beautiful relaxer.   Furthermore, emollients and emulsifiers are big, technical words used not to belittle the reader, but to impress her: if the makers of Soft & Beautiful are able to use such scientific terminology, then they must be authorities on "ultimate protection for healthy hair."

            To reinforce the notion of "ultimate protection," Soft & Beautiful offers a visual analogy: an African-American woman, her shiny, shoulder-length hair resting against her pink blouse, stands in an elevator.  Reflected in the elevator doors but not truly standing behind the woman are African-American men donning Secret Service garb—dark glasses hide their eyes, wires hang from their ears, and black suits cover their frames.  The men are five in number, just like the emollients and emulsifiers in Soft & Beautiful.  Like the tough, masculine agents who secretly guard the United States President, Soft & Beautiful works to protect a woman's crowning asset: her hair.

            Handsome, young Secret Servicemen, not guardian angels, not only protect the woman, but are attracted to her, suggesting that customers who use Soft & Beautiful will attract men also.  Not only that, the woman does not gaze at herself, but at the reader, inviting the reader to identify with her, thus suggesting that using Soft & Beautiful makes one soft and beautiful and therefore desirable.  Soft & Beautiful enables women to risk the dangers of relaxing their hair because the "five emollients and emulsifiers" will protect them.  The beauty gained by using Soft & Beautiful is worth risking the dangers of relaxing.

English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Savannah, Georgia 31419
912/921 5991
    

                                       

17 February 2005