The advertisement that I will be talking about is one that was a part of this year’s Super Bowl.  The Amazon commercial titled “Before Alexa” is a comical approach to showcasing the value of the virtual assistant a.i developed by Amazon known as “Alexa”.  The first scene stars Ellen Degeneres, a famous talk show host as she commands her Alexa device to turn down the thermostat in her home. She then wonders what people’s lives were like before Alexa was invented, hinting at how the device has made her life much more convenient.  The ad then shows multiple scenes set way in the past and shows a rhetorical yet funny answer to Degeneres’ question.

This advertisement appeals to the audience’s rhetorical appeal of value, or pathos. It is intended to be funny, as the advertisement doesn’t actually go into any details regarding the device, but rather the people responsible for the advertisement designed it so that they would get a laugh out of it.  They understand that most people watching this commercial, are in fact focused on watching the Super Bowl. As a viewer, seeing a boring advertisement with mundane details about the Amazon device wouldn’t have been as exciting. Thus, the advertisement was able to do its job by showcasing the value of the Amazon Alexa in a comical way, yet it was still able to do it’s job of capturing the attention of the viewers. Amazon knew it’s target audience, and managed to deliver a video that has a great chance of going viral due to what the said audience would prefer to watch during a break in the Superbowl. Personally, this was an advertisement that I purposely clicked on to watch because it was able to draw my attention.

This advertisement also appeals to the audience due to it’s credibility. By having a well-known talk show host and comedian as the star of the commercial, they are able to generate far more interest to the ad. Ellen Degeneres, who is well respected gives a different sort of credibility to the video, as having someone as important as her star in the ad was good enough.

Overall, the “Before Alexa” advertisement by Amazon was able to draw on two rhetorical appeals, which were value and credibility. They knew what those watching the Superbowl would value during the break, which would be watching a funny clip, rather than a boring ad, and executed on it.  Also, by having someone as well known as Ellen Degeneres on the ad, they were able to draw more interest in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9t2rFmTVE