On youtube, I found an Advertisement for Dr. Squatch and the Rhetorical appeal they used most frequently was an appeal to reason. The Advertisement starts by saying that “most bar soaps are classified by the FDA as synthetic detergent” and by stating that fact causes the viewer to question their use of these soaps. The basis of the logos approach is to appeal to the logic within the mind of an individual and if you make them question their belief that is a way to convince them into agreeing with you. Then the Advertisement talks about the health problems the other soaps cause like a decrease in “sperm count”, and it is detrimental to a person’s “well-being” in general. This creates questions about life choices, if people care about their health then they might change what’s damaging their bodies. Then the Advertisement after creating a problem within the viewer’s mind solves it by stating that their soap is “all-natural”. Later the Advertisement shifts into interviews where they ask people to read the ingredients of Dr. Squatche’s competitors. The people being interviewed don’t know how to read the ingredients. Which again raises the question: why are we putting something on our body that you don’t understand? Creating that cycle of uncertainty about preconceptions on soap choices. Then later the people being interviewed read the ingredients of Dr. Squatche’s soap and they all were familiar with the ingredients being used and were able to say it. This was cemented when a person being interviewed said “I don’t need to take a chemistry class to understand what these ingredients are” which furthers their point of how you can trust that their soap is good for you. Throughout the entire ad, they returned to this approach of questioning what you’re putting on your body, thus installing the reasoning for becoming a customer.

LINK to AD: https://youtu.be/x1TtIt5tdP8