RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

Rhetorical Analysis on The Station John XXXXXXXXXX University of Alaska Anchorage Professor XXXXXXXXXXXX English 111: Writing Today

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A cry rings out through a local gas station, the attendant frantically running towards you screaming hey lady. The police right around the corner in a dead sprint, and a concerned delivery driver drops his bounty of goods in shock and surprise. You may ask what crime you have committed to warrant this action. Its simple, you are a woman; or so the recent 2013 Audi A8 TDI commercial The Station would have you think. In 2013 Audi released their new A8 TDI turbo diesel vehicle. As part of their advertising campaign for the car it appears they chose to strictly promote the vehicle to men by creating a sexist and borderline offensive television commercial, where a woman pulls into a gas station to fill up her shiny new A8 diesel luxury sedan. In what appears to a bad day in a Tarantino movie, everyone from the attendant, to the police, passersby and even a dog are screaming at this poor woman, warning her of the cataclysmic effects diesel would have on her gas car, all the while not realizing it is actually a diesel vehicle. The commercial ends with a clip of a middle aged successful looking man smirking as though he knew the car was diesel the whole time. Between the lack of consideration for their female customer base, as well as the final moments of the clip with the man in the know, it would appear that Audi has marketed this commercial at a very narrow band of 30-40 year old men and all but excluded their female customers from consideration. While Im sure that not every person, man or woman, knows the combustible differences between diesel and gasoline, or the damaging effects one has on the engine of the other; the stance that Audi is taking by depicting this successful working woman as ignorant of her own vehicle is deplorable. According to Forbes, since 2010 diesel vehicle registrations have risen by 24% (de Paula). If diesel vehicle registration is on the rise, that would indicate a better market awareness of the technology, something that Audi may want to consider in their next round of

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advertising and marketing research. I recently purchased a new vehicle, it happened to be a diesel car, and my experience at the dealership left me wondering about this commercial. After speaking with three sales people, two financing managers, one service writer, the parts department operator, and a partridge in a pear tree, who were all men, not one of them could give me any appreciable information about their new diesel car. In fact the majority of them knew less about it than I did, and spent the test drive asking me and my wife questions about the car. On the other hand, my wife, sister in law and several female coworkers had extensive knowledge around the very same vehicle down to the transmission and engine manufacturing countries and environmental impact. This lack of male awareness around this vehicle versus the overwhelming amount of female awareness got me thinking about the claims the commercial is making about women as a whole. Audis The Station commercial makes a connection with its target audience in a couple of different ways. The primary mode of engagement is clearly an emotionally driven reaction from the viewer. The commercial is clearly targeted at middle aged men, who themselves are successful and probably have a somewhat masculine dominated view of the world. Audis advertisement reinforces the beliefs and feelings of this audience by demeaning the intellect of the woman shown. Furthermore, the man at the end of the clip can be easily related to by the target audience creating an even stronger emotional connection between the commercial and the viewer. On the other hand, the lack of intellectual credit given to the woman in the advertisement, I feel would have a negative impact on the female viewer receptiveness to this advertisement. The advertisement makes very little effort to appeal to ones logic and as a result primarily pathos driven with a splash of ethos for good measure. As Audi is a major company,

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with a large following and an extensive selection of luxury vehicles. The brand commands a certain credibility with a viewer based on nothing more than the perceived idea that due to their large name and reputation they would do nothing wrong. Unfortunately this is false as clearly there is some ethical grey area being trampled on in this video. However the perception of this does no wrong idea does lend credibility to Audi despite the moral compromises they made while filming this advertisement. This brand bases credibility would help solidify anyone in the target audience already in question as well as help to swing some buyers who may be on the fence about a purchase. The Station depicts a utopia for the misogynistic man. It is an advertisement rooted in close-minded thoughts stereotypes that caters to middle aged successful men of the previously mentioned disposition. Audi has singled out their female viewers and made a rather targeted advertisement directed at a small portion of the market. This advertisement is more or less a perfect example of what not to do when trying to sell something. It singles out women as well as men who dont follow this way of thinking all while catering to an ancient way of thinking that doesnt need any more ego stroking then it already gets. I understand that at first glim pse, the advertisement is amusing, and much of that amusement comes from the fact that most people are not used to seeing a diesel car. However the issue becomes when the vehicle owner becomes a women. Most of the actors in the advertisement are men with an animal here and there thats probably also male. The advertisement could have been made to be funny but instead was made to be sexist. Audi uses their company name and status to promote an acceptance of the commercial that in a way says, its ok to be sexist as long as youre having fun doing it.

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AudifoAmerica. (2013, September 5) The http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amBTr9kcJes

Station

[Video

File].

Retrieved

from

de Paula, M. Diesel boom? ownership of diesel cars way up, but still a fraction of u.s. market. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewdepaula/2013/04/30/ownership-of-dieselcars-up-but-still-a-fraction-of-market/

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I feel that overall the essay went well. I think that the topic and my stance were clear and well defined and the points I made to justify my opinions were valid educated and supported by both personal experience and factual evidence. I feel like a little more refining could have gone into the flow of the paper but that overall it still reads well and expresses a clear point. As far as revisions, yet again I feel as though the amount of effort in did not equal the amount of effort out. The comments made on my paper did not seem to me to be correct, for example, the change to the title page that veers away from the model of correct posted for this assignment, as a result I chose to omit the majority of them. However I did re-read the paper and add in a few additional sentences and words as well as rework some sentences to provide better flow and readability and to improve the language and voice of the paper as a whole. You are free to focus on what you like. I feel as though the paper speaks for me and does a good job explaining my views and supporting them throughout the whole essay.

Sincerely John Minakais