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Sydney Dominique

Ms. Lilley

English 101

10 February 2019

Visual Rhetorical Analysis

This paper was the analyze an advertisement and to see what rhetorical devices where

used to make the ad successful. The magazine I used was the 2019 Cosmopolitan advertisement

which is targeting specifically women. Within this magazine I came across numerous ads, but

one caught my attention for the simple fact that it was straight forward but still managed to pull

me in with their clever text. I argue that this Aussie Moist ad targets the rhetorical devices, style,

pathos, memory and delivery which is why this is an effective ad.

The advertisement I chose to analyze was an Aussie Moist ad, in this advertisement the

rhetor is the company Aussie Moist, the text in which it’s presented is in a magazine ad and

lastly the audience they’re trying to reach which is women but more specifically Caucasian

women. The context in which this advertisement is brought is social because it’s in a beauty

magazine and the product they’re selling is a hair product.

The Rhetorical appeals Ethos, Logos and Pathos were also used in this ad the Ethos is

Aussie moist because they’re the ones who have created the product and have a review system

from millions of women all around and are ultimately the creator of the product. The logos

around the ad and why it was created states that women who want beautiful, luxurious hair in 3

min should buy Aussie Moist 3 min. miracle. It’s also stating that if your busy like the average

day to day women this product will work well because it’s only going to take your 3 min to make
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your hair soft and shiny and make you look like you just visited the salon. The pathos of the ad is

a longing for the product and envy. You might be envious of the model’s hair and how soft and

luxurious her hair looks with minimal little to no time. The use of pathos makes you more likely

to buy it because you’re seeing the results in someone else and it makes you want to look as

“good” as them

The way the advertisement portrayed Arrangement was by the layout of the ad. The

layout of the ad was very minimal and simple which was one of the main reasons I chose to

analyze this ad, the way the rhetor targeted arrangement was by the placement of everything in

the ad. The first thing you see is the background which immediately draws you in. The next thing

that catches your attention will be the smiling picture of a woman with long beautiful shiny hair.

Finally, the last thing that will possibly catch your attention will be the words the rhetor uses and

how simple it is which says “3 minutes a day will make your hair slay”.

These all incorporate to the final picture of the ad and the main things the rhetor is trying

to grasp your attention of. With these two things being the focus point of the picture, it draws the

conclusion that they’re the important piece of the ad. They want you to remember the Aussie

moist vibrant purple bottle and a smiling woman with beautiful hairThe style portrayed in the ad,

was the use of rhyme in the text they portrayed which said “ 3 minutes a day makes your hair

slay” although it's simple and straight to the point with its use of rhyme it’s one more jingle you

can add to your bag, which was the purpose of the ad, to get you to remember that for only 3

minutes of your day your hair will look healthy and shiny.

When it comes to the Memory and Delivery of an ad in particular this ad, I argue that

they both go hand in hand. With memory the important things you want the audience to

remember like the jingle of the ad or the colors, sometimes the presentation of the ad also
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triggers what the audience is going to remember, if you use bright colors and a memorable

actress or actor and or model those are things the audience will remember. That in part is

connected to the Delivery of the ad and how you place everything, having an ad that’s colorless

or that has too many things going on will make the audience feel overwhelmed. Understanding

how these two go together is why I argue the rhetor did a great job effectively incorporated it.

The delivery the rhetor used was a magazine ad which was a simple but effective style. The

rhetor delivered this message in an advertisement which targets primarily women, putting this ad

in a women’s magazine makes it easier for them to reach their main audience.

The rhetor also wants the audience to remember the model’s hair which was long and it’s

flowy which is stating their product makes women smile and makes them happy because what

woman wouldn't take less time on her hair and still get beautiful results.

Some of the key things this ad also portrayed was the structure and the lifestyle of the

modern woman, some of the ways the rhetor appeals to the lifestyle of the everyday woman was

using Ethos when they spoke on the time limit that women have in the morning and in general.

Using these types of rhetorical devices makes the advertisement more likely to be purchased and

makes it more likely to be repurchased. I think this ad targeted all the rhetorical devices and

rhetorical appeals and lastly canons because I was able to fully target each piece even if it was a

brief explanation of said rhetorical devices. The whole purpose of this advertisements was to get

women to try a product that only takes 3 min to provide you with salon results. In this ad

although it was simple and minimalistic their point still got across because they know the

everyday working woman is busy with their fast paced life and one thing they shouldn’t have to

worry about is their hair, even though it’s an important part of presentation, having time in the

morning that more than a measly 5 min is one thing most Americans don’t have.
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