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: NFL Commercial Title and link: Inspire Change

Inspire Change | Super Bowl LV Commercial

Length of commercial: 1 min.
Purpose (primary and secondary): The primary purpose is
to speak out against systemic racism and fight for social
justice The secondary purpose is to support the NFL
because they support and are fighting against systemic
racism.

Rhetorical Analysis of the Commercial

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

Situation: What is the specific situation
happening/existing in the commercial?
In the commercial, they are showing many different types
of protests that people are participating in and different
stills of the NFL and its players. Specifically, the commercial
features a BLM protest, and NFL players kneeling for the
national anthem.

Audience: Who is the target audience?
Be as specific as possible (age, gender,
marital status, race, social class,
hobbies, etc.)
The target audience is everyone that isn't really doing
anything to support reform for discriminated groups. The
commercial is trying to target the bystanders in order to get
them to do something to help better our world. Maybe the
commercial is trying to target the bystanders that watch
football, but I think it is trying to target all bystanders that
aren't doing anything to stand up for social justice. They are
trying to show that everyone must stand together through
the images of people with their arms linked, and people
attending protests.

Context/Exigence: What is the time The time of this piece is February of 2021 in America. The
and place of this piece? What is Black Lives Matter movement just kicked off, and the spark
happening in the world? What was the comes from the killing of George FLoyd, Breanna Taylor,
spark or catalyst that moved the
advertiser to create this commercial?
Tone: What is the overall attitude
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?
and other victims of police and civilian discrimination. Many
NFL players are kneeling during the national anthem in
protest and openly showing support for the movement. The
NFL chose to speak out in support of the movement and
help the cause. Also, other movements in support of
discriminated groups are happening, such as movements
for the LGBTQ+.
The overall attitude communicated by the commercial is
serious, moving, and inspiring. They use uplifting music to
convey togetherness and hope and images of people
banded together for a cause.
They are using a speech from someone in the NFL to carry
the message of the commercial, backed by inspiring music.
They use more positive words, with only allusions to
negative past events that sparked the movement. The
overall sound is euphonious, inspiring togetherness.
The commercial uses human actors; more specifically, it
uses pictures of events and movements that have already
taken place and are taking place in the time of the
commercial, such as the kneeling of the footballers.
The setting is realistic, in a modern timeline featuring
current and recently past events. They show live footage
and stills of actual events; nothing is animated or fictional.
The commercial is trying to appeal to pathos and your
emotions by showing events that can evoke certain
emotions in people depending on your culture and your
beliefs. They want the audience to get the feeling that they
can make a difference and that they need to stand up for
what they believe. They show names that invoke a desire to
get justice like the names of people killed due to
discrimination. They also show powerful images of people
standing together and protesting together for certain
causes, such as the BLM or LGBTQ+, to invoke the need in
people to achieve social justice.
They choose to use many action verbs and use many
shorter, simple sentences in order to effectively get to the
point. They choose to use simpler sentences in order to
seem more inspirational and to instill how important it is to
stand up for social justice in people.
The ad was somewhat effective in achieving its purpose. It
shows people how important it is to stop systematic racism
Both primary and secondary. and stand up for social justice, inspiring the audience to do
more to correct our injustices. It is also somewhat effective
in promoting the NFL because it makes it seem as though
the NFL is the "good guy” as they are trying to fight against
systemic racism and stand up for social justice. The
commercial would have been more effective if it wasn't as
busy; the combination of the music, speech, and constantly
changing images is too overwhelming for the brain.