Saganowich 1

Julia Saganowich

Lori Bedell

CAS 137H

11 October 2019

Rhetorical Strategies to Tackle Human Papilloma Virus

If there was a vaccine to prevent cancer, would you get it? While the answer may seem

straight forward, organizations like Merck and the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland are

actively working to educate their respective populations and promote HPV vaccination. “Human

Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States,”

currently affecting about 79 million Americans today, and it has been proven to have a link with

multiple forms of cancer, especially cervical cancer (CDC). In Ireland, approximately 300

women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and roughly 90 women will die each

year from the disease (Health Service Executive). Despite these staggering statistics, vaccination

rates are still on the slow incline because baseless fears of adolescent promiscuity and

misconceptions about HPV linger amongst parents (Downs). In fact, only about 49% of

adolescents in the United States were meeting the recommended HPV immunization schedule in

2017 while the other 51% of adolescents had not completed their two-part series (CDC). To

motivate their respective audiences towards vaccination, Merck aired the commercial, “It’s

Personal: What Will You Say?” and the HSE created the video “Don’t Be Swayed by the

Rumours.” While both organizations work to address a common exigence, Merck’s heavy

reliance on parental commonplaces to create intrinsic proofs contrasts sharply with the HSE’s
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forthright use of reliable characters and extrinsic proofs to construct an equally credible, logical,

and emotional argument.

The two organizations confront the same exigence with vastly different rhetorical

strategies, especially when building trust with the audience. While the HSE utilizes authentic

characters to secure a substantial appeal to ethos, Merck lacks credibility by choosing to cast

actors in their commercial. In the HSE’s campaign, the audience comes face to face with a

professional middle-aged woman wearing a grey pantsuit. Doctor Cliona Murphy, a consultant

gynecologist in Ireland, speaks on behalf of the HSE’s vaccination campaign, and her presence

alone brings credibility to the table. As a licensed medical practitioner, Dr. Murphy has the

expertise to present reliable information regarding HPV immunization, which allows her to build

a trusting relationship with the audience. For this reason, the HSE strategically utilizes Dr.

Murphy’s credibility and vocal support for the HPV vaccine to enhance their civic call. In

addition, the HSE furthers their argument by enlisting Laura Brennan, a young woman diagnosed

with cervical cancer, to tell her story. Living with the consequences of foregoing her own HPV

vaccine, Laura Brennan is in a unique position to speak persuasively about the benefits of getting

vaccinated. Therefore, when she urges the audience to vaccinate their daughters, they will be

more likely to follow her recommendation. In contrast, Merck’s commercial is lacking in ethical

appeal. By casting actors instead of real doctors or true cancer patients, Merck’s television

commercial eerily resembles a consumer product advertisement, not a genuine public service

announcement. As a result, viewers may assume that Merck is just another profit-hungry

corporation making a ploy to drive sales, seeing as they manufacture the HPV Vaccine, and

choose to ignore the message entirely. For this reason, Merck’s use of actors forfeits an

opportunity to build an authentic relationship with the audience, contributing to lagging ethical
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appeals. However, Merck relies on different rhetorical strategies to make up for lost ground.

Although not as strong as the HSE in building credibility, this pharmaceutical corporation counts

on the parental ideology to logically justify HPV immunization.

Relying on parental commonplaces, Merck advances their argument with subtle appeals

to logos, whereas the HSE uses characters to deliver facts and logical arguments for HPV

vaccination. Starting with Merck’s commercial, the audience sees key moments from a young

woman’s life, and she narrates in the background, “I have cervical cancer… from an infection,

Human Papilloma Virus.” The actress is depicted as a healthy, smiling young girl playing soccer,

decorating her dorm room, taking pictures at prom, and eating ice-cream—critical scenes in the

commercial that flash across the TV screen in a matter of seconds. The use of time here is a

reference to the parental commonplace that children grow up fast. Merck executes this ideology

to subtlety create a logical appeal and demonstrate that the risk of HPV also approaches rapidly

as children get older. This tactic emphasizes the urgency of the exigence and prompts audience

members to seize the present opportunity to vaccinate their child. In contrast to Merck’s use of

commonplaces, the HSE relies on authentic characters to deliver logical arguments. Dr. Murphy

draws on her credibility to present extrinsic proofs. By using statistics to explain the prevalence

of cervical cancer, Dr. Murphy stresses the scope of the problem so that she can lead the

audience toward a logical solution—HPV vaccination. In addition, Laura Brennan’s story

provides a solid appeal to logos through inductive reasoning. She states in the commercial, “The

vaccine saves lives, and it could have saved mine.” By citing her specific battle with cervical

cancer, the HSE suggests there is a risk of similar outcomes for all families who fail to vaccinate

their children. However, adolescents who do get the HPV vaccine won’t have to suffer as Laura

is suffering. Therefore, this specific example provides strong logical reasoning in favor of HPV
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immunization as parents will see their daughters in Laura and feel compelled to save them from

her tragic reality. Although both organizations make valid logical arguments, the bulk of

Merck’s rhetorical strategy surfaces in the audience’s poignant response to emotional appeals.

While the HSE does utilize characters to create an adequate appeal to pathos, Merck’s

unwavering delivery of parental commonplaces creates a powerfully sentimental call to the civic.

For example, in Merck’s commercial, moving music plays in the background, and the woman

narrates, “Who knew that there was something that could have helped protect me from HPV…”

The woman’s younger self sits before a gleaming birthday cake. As the camera slowly zooms in

on her solemn, hopeful eyes, she looks into the lens and asks: “Did you know? Mom? Dad?”

Here, the audience immediately becomes a character in the commercial, and viewers assume the

responsibility for her cancer diagnosis as a parent who neglected to vaccinate her. This heart-

breaking question provides a stark departure from the parental commonplace that adults should

do everything in their power to protect their children. As a result, the audience feels guilty,

shocked, and utterly disappointed in themselves for failing to protect the little girl. No parent

wants to disappoint their children in the way that the pharmaceutical giant portrays the characters

in their commercial. Therefore, Merck purposefully draws on these harsh emotions during the ad,

so parents will act to avoid these feelings in their own lives, motivating them towards HPV

immunization. On the other hand, the HSE depends on Laura Brennan to create emotional

appeals that justify the vaccine. When Laura describes her fight with cervical cancer, she

humanizes this terrible disease and allows the audience to empathize with her condition. Cancer

is so widespread that it is becoming a dominant commonplace in society. When viewers hear her

story, they can’t help but picture someone they know who has also been impacted by cancer.

This connection leads the audience to feel saddened, knowing that Laura could very well be a
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sister, daughter, mother, or friend to someone else. In essence, Laura becomes a symbolic figure

for all people living with cancer, serving to remind viewers of the tragedies cancer can cause in

their own lives. Therefore, Laura’s sorrowful narrative rekindles personal feelings tied to the

disease and works to inspire audience members to continue the fight against cancer with the

HPV vaccine.

Considering the sum of their rhetorical strategies, each organization persuades the civic

in two distinct styles. While the HSE directly asks the audience to participate in their civic act,

Merck relies on an enthymeme to implicitly sway their viewers toward HPV vaccination. The

HSE’s balanced use of ethos, logos, and pathos creates a firm argument that allows them to ask

the audience for vaccination. However, Merck’s reliance on commonplaces creates a heavily

pathetic case lacking in credibility. For this reason, Merck could not directly call upon the civic

in a way that the HSE did. Instead, Merck depends on enthymemes to achieve a similar effect.

By presenting an emotionally embellished story, Merck never actually mentions the vaccine but

provides the audience with the information needed to convince them of the next logical step—

HPV vaccination.

Although Merck and the HSE promote HPV vaccination in their commercials, each

organization takes a different persuasive approach. Relying on extrinsic proofs and true

characters, the HSE constructs a balanced argument rooted in ethos, pathos, and logos to call

upon the civic directly. Conversely, Merck’s dependence on parental commonplaces creates a

highly emotional justification for HPV immunization that implicitly persuades the civic with an

enthymeme. Despite their differing rhetorical styles, organizations like Merck and the HSE will

continue to release content supporting the HPV vaccine. However, only parents can decide for

themselves whether to vaccinate or not to vaccinate their children. The success of these pro-
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vaccine campaigns is still unclear. Only time will tell if parents will entrust in Merck and the

HSE’s call to the civic.

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Works Cited

CDC. “Genital HPV Infection - Fact Sheet.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Aug. 2019, www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-
hpv.htm.

CDC. “HPV Vaccination Coverage Data.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Aug. 2018, cdc.gov/hpv/hcp/vacc-
coverage/index.html.

Downs, Levi S., et al. “Overcoming the Barriers to HPV Vaccination in High-Risk Populations
in the US.” Gynecologic Oncology, vol. 117, no. 3, 2010, pp. 486–490.,
doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2010.02.011.

Health Service Executive‐Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). “HPV Vaccine Uptake
in Ireland: 2015/2016.” HSE‐Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) , 2017.

HSE Ireland, director. Don't Be Swayed by Rumours - HPV Vaccine. YouTube, YouTube, 23
May 2018.

Merck, director. It's Personal: What Will You Say? ISpot.tv, 2016, www.ispot.tv/ad/Ap1V/know-
hpv-hpv-vaccination.