Maria Wu Cen

ENG 2150, Dr. Blankenship

8 March 2016

Paper 1: Rhetorical Analysis of a Cultural Artifact

 

Dear Dr. Blankenship and members of the Writer’s Group:

What I’m analyzing: I am analyzing a reality television show called Shark Tank. I mostly focused on the perspectives of audiences and metaphors in Shark Tank.

Title for my paper: There are Only Sharks in the Tank OR The Sharks and their Preys

Why I chose this topic: I love watching Shark Tank and I always have imagined that the person standing on the stage pitching to those sharks could be me.

My process in writing this draft: I have pieces of my paper together, but I want to know if my organization is good enough.

My thesis is: People think that these investors are helping you to succeed in your business ventures, but they are actually sharks that bite. This reality show is about entertainment; becoming an entrepreneur is not as easy as it is shown.

How I support my thesis and organize my draft: I support my thesis and organize my draft by starting very broad with the concepts of a reality show and go deeper into my thesis towards the end.

Who is the audience in my mind as I’m writing: The audience I’m writing to is everyone who watches Shark Tank, referring to the entrepreneurs and students.

The biggest challenged have been: I had troubled with connecting ideas and choosing specific episodes that emphasize my point. I feel like my thesis can change depending on my supporting ideas.

Here’s what I think is going well: My supporting details and examples are going well.

Here’s what I think needs more work: I need to work on conclusion, sentence structure, grammar, maybe re-ordering some parts of my paper.

Here are questions I have for you as you read: Was my thesis clear throughout the paper? Did my supporting details support my thesis? What does the term cultural artifact mean? Do I have to talk more about cultural artifact and how Shark Tank is a cultural artifact or do I just need to do rhetorical analysis of Shark Tank? Did I connect my ideas well? Where can I add more? Where do you think I should explain “so what”, “who cares”? I wonder if there is anything that you can enlighten me or ask me some questions so I can have a new perspective of my topic. Does it have to be formal/ informal the tone? Thank you so much for your help and time.

Only Sharks in the Tank or The Sharks and their Preys

What’s a reality television show? There are cameras looking at you from different angles. You say what the audience want to hear from you, and not the real you. In Shark Tank, there are usually five investors. They all have successful business backgrounds. When the first entrepreneur comes in, the host says “first into the tank”. It starts off with an entrepreneur or a person who wants to build his/her company, but he/she needs help. As a result, he/she goes on Shark Tank to sell his/her products to the investors. If one of the investors likes it, he/she will make an offer. The seller then can negotiate the price and equity. Sometimes, more than one investor will want to invest in the product. The pitch has to be profound and the product that the entrepreneur has needs to be innovative and impressive.

The primary audience are the entrepreneurs out there. The show wants to convince the audience that they can just be like them. That these investors can make you a millionaire. If you need help in starting your own company or expanding your business by having a factory, these sharks can help with that. The entrepreneurs are like the bait/ fish food. These sharks are in control of the game. It is their choice to invest in you. In fact, you are actually helping these sharks to become richer.

Another perspective you can look into is that these entrepreneurs come into the show to publicize their products and never thought of selling their equities. The television show is using real investors and entrepreneurs with real company names. This allows the entrepreneur audience to believe in this show that it works. This reality show grabs the audience’s attention because it shows how it is a painless process. If you have an idea/product, then you can go on the show. This leads to some enthusiastic entrepreneurs out there come to the show and embarrass themselves because they watch Shark Tank and they believe that the sharks will definitely like their product. In the end, no sharks actually invest in it and the entrepreneur would leave empty handed.

The secondary audience would be students who are interested in business. This show presents the possibilities that business success is attainable. It is like the “American Dream”. It does not matter if you are poor, black, white, yellow, short, or tall, you have the opportunity to present your idea to these investors. They might not like your idea, but at least you have that chance to share with the world what you have done. It is definitely the American Dream to the perspective of someone who has an excellent product because all that person needs is to get the support of these sharks. It also inspires young adults/students to step out of their comfort zone. If you have a good idea, make it happen. Do not just keep it in your brain. Do not let yourself regret what you didn’t do. It gives the impression that these sharks are willing to help and invest in you. Despite the fact that the audience might think so highly of these investors, they do not realize that people are all humans. The only thing the sharks have more than them is money.

Although Shark Tank has positive connotations, its negative connotations out beats the positive. We all know that there is no free lunch in this world. These sharks who invest in you definitely wants an equivalent amount of return or even more. Some of these sharks can suck the blood out of you. Similar characteristics of a shark, the shark is known for its sharp teeth to bite. In addition, a shark has a strong sense of smell that allows him/her to notice blood in the water from miles away. Comparably, these investors can smell blood, which in this case is money, from far away.

Right off the bat, the title of the show is already a metaphor. The term “Shark” refers to the investors, and “Tank” refers to the pool of money they have to invest and business connections that they can give to the seller. When you think of a shark, what do you think of? I think it is a creature that want to eat you up without mercy. When you think of the show Shark Tank, what do you think of? I think of a tank full of sharks fighting in the tank.

Let’s face it, a doctor is a doctor, but by the end of the day, they are still business person. There can be a possibility that they will want to take over the seller’s company. For example, let’s say all the sharks are out (they do not like your product), except for one shark, he can take a full advantage of you. If you need the money, then most likely whatever offer he makes, you will accept, even if you do not like it. In this case, the shark is actually getting an unbelievable deal.

Although Shark Tank not only talks about business products, but also about math, it is hiding the “details” behind the scene. An entrepreneur would pitch his product, and ask for X amount of money for Y% of the company. So the question is, how much is the company worth? It is a great platform for kids to open their minds up. Most people that I know, they think that math is useless, but math is actually used in real life situation. The problem is, children might see being an entrepreneur is an easy job, but that is not true. Have they seen how hard the entrepreneurs worked and what preparations they did before stepping into the stage? It is not as simple as what the audiences see it as. Watching someone present a brilliant idea seems like a piece of cake, but when you have to do it, it is difficult.

The purpose of this show is to educate young adults on the process of capital investments and also to entertain people. Remember audience, you do not see every little details from the show. It is a show for reason. These sharks and entrepreneurs are “actors”. The camera is right at them. They do not want to make themselves look bad to ruin their reputations. However, of course, there are times when the sharks fight. They fight for a piece of the pie to invest. Other times in Season 6, Christopher Gray comes into the show to sell his company Scholly, which is an application that can find scholarships for students. So Lori Grenier, who is one of the sharks, does not even listen to the whole pitch and agree to the offer that the entrepreneur is asking for, which is $40,000 for 15% of the company. The other sharks such as Mark Cuban were angry because this is an application business, and Cuban specializes in that field, so he wants to learn/hear more about the business. Lori does not even listen to the numbers or the plan that Gray has for the future. She totally trusts Gray and his company. This demonstrates how aggressive these sharks can be just to get what they want and to “defeat” the other sharks. It is all business and entertainment my friends.

This might be an example just to make the reality show more exciting. It is to entertain the audience with arguments. We as audience do not like to have arguments with others, but when we see others arguing, we think that it is fun to watch. An exemplary example would be two guys on the street are fighting. People actually surrounds them and watch the fight, and maybe one person calls the police. If there was no entertainment, then the audiences would be bored, and would move on to something else. Audiences want something fresh, new, and unexpected. If there is no audience, then there is no point of the show. The more viewers they have for Shark Tank, the more money the producer will make.

Another episode, where you can see a shark fight is in Season 4 episode 7. The founder of Scrub Daddy Aaron Krause seeks $100,000 for 10% equity. All the sharks were impressed with his pitch, but some did not see a future with the company. So only Lori Greiner, Mr. Wonderful, and Daymond John are in. They all made offers, but the main battle was between Greiner and John. The bid started from $50,000 for 15% from John. Then Greiner says that she can tell instantly if a product is “hero” or “zero”. Hero as in the product is going to be a hit. Zero as in the product sucks. She says Scrub Daddy is a hero, so she made offer $100000 for 30% equity. Later John offered $100000 for 25% equity, and Greiner responded $150000 for 25%. John then offers $175,000, and finally Greiner offers two million dollars for 25% equity. However, the problem for Krause is that the equity is too high, so he asked for 20% equity and got a deal. The tricky/dirty part of this episode is that Daymond John did not want to invest into this business. He just bid higher knowing that Greiner will follow. Therefore, John made Greiner “lost” $100,000. She did not really lose $100,000; it’s just that she got a less good deal.

The audience have constraints; they do not see the whole picture. A pitch usually goes about an hour long, but in this show, each pitch is cut down to ten minutes only. When the audiences want to know more about the company, they will not hear it in that ten-minute process. They do this to catch the audiences’ attention. So we as audience will want to learn more about the company after the show. If you think outside of the box, if these entrepreneurs did not go on the show, then there will be no show.

According to Metaphors We Live by by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, time isn’t really money (13). The time you invested does not equal the time you earn. People who goes to Shark Tank is in the same situation. For the people who wants to go to the show and sell their products to the sharks, but they have products that the sharks are not interested, then they just lost their time. On the other side of the picture, time is money. These sharks are willing to hear your pitch and give you feedback. This is similar to putting money in your pocket.

In Season 6 episode 2, there was an entrepreneur Phillip Lapuz, who got emotional when a shark asked him “where you got your motivation from?” and he explained. His fiancée is in Japan, and he really wants her to come here. He proposed to her two years ago at that time and he has to make this business succeed, so his wife can be with him. He wants to have a stable life/job with his wife. Lapuz left his high-paid consultant job to follow his passion with his golf putter company. The sharks got emotional during the pitch and somehow, Mr. Wonderful just offer him a deal. Is this realistic? The sharks say that his product is garbage. Is it really empathy or is it just to put it in the show? What does that say about the investors? It is through his emotions and painstaking love for the company that makes Mr. Wonderful buy his idea.

This brings us to another reading we did in class Everybody’s a Critic. And That’s How It Should Be. These sharks, entrepreneurs, and the audiences are all critics. The entrepreneurs can take or leave the offer. The audiences can judge if the sharks made good offers, or if the product is fantastic or not. The sharks are critics because they “step” on the entrepreneurs’ works. They criticize the seller’s works and also give suggestions in how about going with it. We as audiences are critics, how do you react to a “not so good” idea, and with some tears and emotions, he gets a deal? What does this say about the show? What does it say about we human beings? Mr. Wonderful might just want to be looked being the person who has empathy to get his fame and reputation to another level.

You might think that these sharks are helping you to succeed in your dreams/ company. However, they are actually benefitting themselves, more than benefiting you. The sharks will always be the “winner”. These sharks are making money from these entrepreneurs. In fact, the term “dog eat dog” goes hand in hand with Shark Tank. Not only sharks can eat fish, but also sharks can eat sharks as well. Do not let the appearance of the television show fool you. The reality show is trying to allure the audience to be in/ part of the show, to become an entrepreneur. The sharks are not simple animals, the entrepreneurs tell them the numbers of the sales, and contracts that is involved, these sharks do background check on the entrepreneurs. When the show refers the investors to as “sharks”, they are really sharks.

Works Cited

Altucher, James. “Ten Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank.” Jamesaltucher.com. Altucher

Confidential, 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Feloni, Richard. “How a Sponge Company Became the Biggesst ‘Shark Tank’ Success Story, With Over $50 Million in Sales.” Businessinsider.com. Business Insider, 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Feloni, Richard. “These ‘Shark Tank’ Entrepreneurs Made the Sharks Cry, Proving Emotion Is Key to A Successful Pitch.” Businessinsider.com. Business Insider, 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Lakoff, George., and Johnson, Mark. Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1980. Print.

Scott, A.O. “Everybody’s a Critic. And That’s How It Should Be.” Nytimes.com. The New   York Times Company, 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.