Commercials

Assign a different advertisement to each group member. Watch individually and identify the
choices that create each rhetorical appeal (ethos, pathos, logos). Then, explain the effect of the
appeal on the intended audience. Remember, the appeals are the RESULT of the choices, not the
choices themselves. You don’t use ethos, you create it.

Finally, share your analysis of each commercial and answer the follow-up questions together.

1. “1959 First EVER Barbie commercial High Quality HQ!” 1959

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos When it says the slogan “its swell” referring to the quality of Mattel’s
products, it makes them have authority that if the product is good it’s
Mattel. The commercial had a more sophisticated design for that time,
with the spinning clothes.

Logos They say that the Barbie is only 3 dollars, and that Barbie was small and
sweet. The dolls were expensive, so they must be high quality clothes sold
separately.

Pathos The song is made to be empowering and catchy to entrap the interest of
young girls. The song and Barbie’s outfits are made to inspire girls to be
like her, especially the wedding dress one, and to be small and sweet.
Sweet and soft singing voice.

2. “1971 COLOR Malibu Barbie Commercial HQ!” 1971

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos The girls are playing with it, so it must be fun. At the beginning it says
Mattel’s Barbie doll to give the doll credibility

Logos It lists all the summer clothes and accessories to emphasize a summer
release. It says the dolls and other costumes are sold separately.
Pathos WIth the laid back summer song, it makes the product more chill and
emphasizes its summer fun.

3. “1983 Great Shape Barbie Commercial” 1983

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos They show the girls that are enjoying playing with the dolls. It shows the
Mattel logo at the end to show it's a Mattel product.

Logos It comes with leg warmers, a bag, and an exercise book to show you're
getting your money’s worth.

Pathos The “looking great it's got to be a date” makes the kids feel like if you work
out like Barbe you will get a date and look as good as her.

4. “Barbie Totally Hair commercial 90s" 1992

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos They constantly have the Mattel logo in the corner, and at the end flash
the Barbie logo.

Logos It comes with all the styling tools and talks about how the gel is a good
deal with the Barbie set.

Pathos They use the words like “wow, hot, and cool” to appeal to the prestige of
the doll. And it comes with different hair colors to appeal to different
colors. The song is supposed to sound cool and hip and interesting. The
girls have the same hair as Barbie showing how Barbie can look like them.

5. "Imagine the Possibilities" 2015

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos It says a statement that most people agree on, and goes on to show
different scenarios where girls have important jobs and how people react.
 With the Barbie product you can imagine anything. It shows theBarbie
logo.

Logos It shows different jobs that the girl can succeed in and how she can
become anything. There is a wide variety of dolls, so you can be anything
you want.

Pathos It shows how the people have a positive reaction to the girls in the
different job positions, making them feel like they are important. And
when it cuts to the girl in her room, it makes the kids feel that with the
product you can imagine being anything.

6. “Barbie - A Doll Can Help Change The World” 2021

Rhetorical Examples and Explanation
Appeal

Ethos If a doll can help change a person, it can help change the world. Barbie can
change the world.

Logos It showed how kids accepted different people for their differences because
of the inclusivity of the dolls.

Pathos It shows how the kids are practicing the social skills they learned with
people from their dolls. The music is motivational and swells to give
importance to the ending line like a motivational video. It uses the words
empathetic, and understanding to show how the kids have important
qualities for people.

Follow-up Questions

1. Which rhetorical appeal do you feel was used the most and why?
Pathos was used the most, because it is to appeal to children, who get bored easily and many a
time don’t have the emotional maturity to understand logic and importance of authority.

2. Take a look at these slides showing the evolution of Barbie over the years. With the
advertisements in mind, what can you say about the evolution of the brand?
As time went on, and social ideals changed, the Barbie dolls became more inclusive and wide
ranging to the point where Barbie was more a brand of dolls, withe original Barbie being the
blonde one, but one of a wide variety.
3. Which advertisement do you feel could have been the most persuasive for the intended
audience? Why?

I think the ones that were less motivational like the hair one were most persuasive because kids
don’t understand the gravity of the motivational message yet. They had lots of interesting
things, and being able to customize the hair would appeal more to the kids.
4. Some believe that advertisements can shape our perceptions of our environment and
of ourselves. How might these Barbie advertisements influence the target audience?
The Barbie advertisements might influence girls to want to be like Barbie, and meet Barbie’s
ideals even though they may not be realistic. They would try to mimic Barbie to be successful
like her.