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Jamir Todd

Emily Litle

Eng 102

03 March 2023

Paper #2

On July 4th, 2017, Ancestry released an advertisement to celebrate Independence day;

this ad, in my opinion, was immensely powerful and portrayed in many ways of rhetoric to draw

the attention of the consumer, Ancestry brought living descendants of the Declaration of

Independence together and made a mural to celebrate Independence Day as an American, this is

important to me because these are the people who made the country what it is. For example, we

as people wouldn’t have freedom if it weren’t for the soldiers who fought for this country.

Ancestry runs a network of websites dedicated to genealogical research, historical documents,

and linked genetic genealogy. It is the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world. As a

company, I liked how Ancestry shows the power of its genealogy research and shows consumers

how they can find the living descendants of the Declaration of Independence that they can find

where a “regular person” comes from. There are a lot of people who want to know about their

origins or even orphans who do not know where they come from. In the world people are in

today, people are so divided and Ancestry brought living descendants of all the people who

signed the Declaration of Independence and created a mural mocking the original image of the

signing showing how much diversity America has seen since it was founded while showing these

changes, they also promote their brand and consumers get to see how great their research is.

Ancestry starts this commercial by providing background knowledge about how 241

years ago America’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July
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(Independence Day). Ancestry and the design firm Droga5 recreated the classic piece of artwork

for Independence Day 2017 to convey an even more modern message. The individuals in the

recreation are all descended from one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence,

and they all learned about their important ancestry through Ancestry.com. The advertising

campaign tries to highlight how diverse America has grown since its inception. To show the

strength of their company Ancestry brought the signers living decedents together to paint a new

picture of America. Ancestry painted a mural in a diverse community to show the abilities of the

company and to show how America has changed.

They showed unique ways to use rhetoric and ways to draw in the consumer. They

showed ethos by showing their company's strengths and what they can do. Then they put the

mural as another way of showing the product off and showing the authority they have. By

choosing to use the living descendants of the signers of the declaration of independence they

showed consumer logos. If Ancestry can find the signer’s living descendants, they can find

anyone. Consumers felt pathos because if they watch the commercial, they are inspired to find

out where they come from. They also could have felt enlightenment after they see how diverse

the descendants are because they come from a group of people who are not diverse at all.

Ancestry released an advertisement on July 4th, 2017, to commemorate Independence

Day. This advertisement, in my opinion, was incredibly persuasive and used a variety of

rhetorical strategies to grab the attention of the consumer. Ancestry brought together living

Declaration of Independence signatories to create a mural to commemorate Independence Day as

an American, which is significant to me because these are the people who gave the nation its

foundation. For instance, without the warriors who defended this nation, we as individuals would

not enjoy our freedom. Ancestry manages a network of websites for genealogical study, access to
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historical records, and connected genetic genealogy. It is the world's biggest for-profit genealogy

company. As a business, I appreciated how Ancestry demonstrated the value of its genealogical

research and demonstrated to customers how to locate the living Declaration of Independence

ancestors from which "ordinary people" descended. Many people, including orphans who have

no idea where they came from, are interested in learning about their ancestry. People are so

divided in the world we live in today, and Ancestry brought the living descendants of every

signer of the Declaration of Independence to create a mural that both mocks the original

photograph of the signing and highlights the changes and diversity that have occurred in America

since its founding. Ancestry showed the strengths of the company while providing the consumer

with proof of their work. Using multiple ways rhetoric ancestry showed how It runs a network of

websites dedicated to genetic genealogy, historical records, and related topics.