rhetorical critique 3.16.08

mac v. pc ad

This entire ad focuses distinctly on two types of appeals. The first, and most apparent appeal of course is pathos. The entire commercial is meant to make the audience laugh whether or not they own a pc or a Mac computer. They do this through the analogy of the two characters. Each man represents a different type of computer which is made apparent at the very beginning when they introduce themselves. The pc man is overweight, bald, and uptight which makes him the goofier of the two men. The mac guy is young, hip, and confident in front of his competitor allowing him to poke fun at the pc man. Another analogy used is of the movies and their appearances. The Mac home movie was represented by a model, Gisele Bundchen, which suggests that Mac home movies are much better looking than those of pcs. The pc movie is represented by a man that from the looks of it appears to be homeless. This suggests that pc home movies are of lesser quality and have poor aesthetics. These analogies are used only to help the audience visualize the differences between Macs and pcs through appearance, not on actual quality. The second rhetorical appeal utilized in this ad is ethos. This ad is used to create a certain crdibility for mac computers that will make the audience choose them over pcs. They use comparison-contrast in several of their commercials to make the Macs mor appealing. In this one, they compared the computers' movie making abilities. The Mac computer's movie was ulitmately shown as superior over the pcs in hopes to persuade viewers that Macs are overall the best computers to buy. This compare-contrast is done through the home movie analogy explained above. They allow the audience to compare and contrast the movies based on the appearances of the represented model and homeless fellow, not with an actual verbal appeal. This ad also uses an illustration as to how owning a computer can impact one's life. The Mac owner would ultimately have much cooler applications that are easier to use than that of a pc, and the pc owner would be behind the times with a computer that works less effectively than that of a Mac. All of this is illustrated by the actor Justin Long, who is used as an example of authority over evidence. If the audience does not know Justin's name, they have surely seen him in funny movies or on the arm of Drew Barymore thus making him a pop culture icon in the US. He of course represents the Mac computers that are implied to be revolutionary, high-tech and futuristic, easier to work, and exploding with really neat features that everyone must have. The PC guy is a nobody actor who is only known for these commercials. This distracts the audience for a moment as they figure out who the heck this Mac guy is, which gives the Mac computers a head start at the very beginning of the ad. The young actor gives the mac company a name or icon for themselves as a cool and hip company which is all they are really driving for in this commercial because they know, ulitmately, that this image of appeal will sell thousands of computers.