Social Progress Commercial

Rhetorical Analysis

1.With your partner, choose one commercial to analyze.

2. Watch the commercial several times to make sure you understand and catch all important
elements, including the purpose. Paste the link to the commercial in the space provided below.
3. Complete the chart below, analyzing the commercial’s rhetorical features and citing specific
evidence from the commercial to support your analysis.

Company: Sonic Commercial Title and link:Sonic Drive-In Commercial 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPQruIHb3TE

Length of commercial: 32s Purpose (primary and secondary):The primary purpose is

for Sonic to sell more of their products, the secondary
purpose is to promote inclusivity.

Rhetorical Analysis of the Commercial

(Give specific examples in response to each set of questions)

Situation: What is the specific situation Sonic recreated older commercials but now included not
happening/existing in the commercial? just white families, they used ethinic families to be inclusive
and also used real families to be more emotional.

Audience: Who is the target audience?
Be as specific as possible (age, gender,
marital status, race, social class,
hobbies, etc.)
The target audience was just to sell food which applies to
everyone but particularly with this commercial: families.
They were more inclusive this time and so it applies to
families of all races. It probably targeted closer to the
middle class because the commercial only showed like put
together families who have cars and the ability to buy food.

Context/Exigence: What is the time
and place of this piece? What is
happening in the world? What was the
spark or catalyst that moved the
advertiser to create this commercial?
This commercial was released in 2020, during this time
America was dealing with a lot of racial awareness
increasing. The 2010’s was a big time for social justice and
being more inclusive of minorities. I don’t know if there was
a super specific spark besides just the growing social justice
in America during the time. The commercial shows this as
it’s spark because the commercial included many of color
families.

Tone: What is the overall attitude The tone is very warm and inclusive, all the families in the
communicated by the commercial?
Sounds: What words, sounds, music are
used in the commercial? How are they
used? Is the overall sound euphonious
(pleasing) or cacophonous (jarring)?
Actors: Does the commercial use
human actors, animals, machines?
(invoked audience)
Setting: Is the setting realistic? Sci-fi or
fantasy? Present time? Past? Future?
Appeals to Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Give
examples. Why?
Choices: What are the rhetorical
choices made in the commercial? Think
about overall structure, devices, diction,
syntax, etc.
Overall, how effective was this
advertisement at achieving its purpose?
Both primary and secondary.
video are very happy which creates a sense of safety with
sonic and a desire for tier food because it comes with such
a happy experience.
It has fun, jazzy music in the background that is upbeat and
happy, this contributes to the happy and joking tone. The
dialogue spoken is almost all funny as well, contributing to
the happy, and laid back vibe of the commercial. The
“dumb” converstations this commeical includes makes it
feel more real and easier to connect to.
The commercial uses all sorts of people, they use actors of
ethinic minorities and also use children. The commercial
also features real families. The use of actors really creates a
big feeling of closeness because of families and also caters
to people of color who now also get to see families that
look like their own.
The setting is realistic and in present time, this is shown
through fashion and mannerisms that are in the
commercial. People act as they would today portraying a
familiar world of viewers and making the connection
people make to it more intimate. People in the commercial
drive modern cars and talk how we do today, making it feel
more real
The biggest appeal used is pathos, by showing a very happy
situation and associating it with sonic and also including all
sorts of people, especially those of ethnic minorities, this
commercial makes the viewers feel good. The commercial
also uses ethos, as it is a recreation of already famous sonic
commercials that already have credibility. With this new
commercial now though, also using pathos with its
inclusivity with the use of minorities.
A big choice made was the coloring of the film, they used
very warm colors which makes you feel warm and cozy and
happy. Another choice was showing visuals of happy
families making the viewer associate Sonic with happy
families. Another big choice was using music and the kind
they used; which was upbeat and contributed to the overall
happy tone of the commercial.
I think it did well in both of its purposes, I’m sure this
commercial convinced or made aware to families that they
could go out and eat at Sonic for a good time. I also feel it
did probably work in contributing to the normalization of
including minorities in media.