Ethos or Pathos?

The airline company, Song, attempted to focus their advertising largely on persuading through pathos. Based on the PBS documentary, The Persuaders, Song used a “third of their 12 million dollar budget on marketing.” That seems like quite a bit of money to spend on an advertisement approach that showed little or no reference to flying.

The Song Logo

In such a competitive market, Song ‘s intention was to “break through the clutter.” Unfortunately, they may have just added to it.

Song focused on the emotional stance of what flying could offer rather than the cold hard facts of what it takes to fly. After choosing to market women, they spread word of organic food and a low fare, all while focusing on the art form of advertising and the emotional state of the typical woman.

2005 Song Advertisement - Sky is seen, but still no airplane, which allows room for personal interpretation.

Images of dancing women, or freedom of running through a field was Song’s attempt at saying, “If you fly song, you will feel like this.”

Unfortunately, not everyone is as gullible as Song may have liked and worse, that magical and happy vibe they are displaying allows women to relate that “freedom” to numerous other activities, not including flying.

Song’s risky broad approach wanted the consumers head and heart, Rosser Reeves wanted the consumer’s soul. Instead of taking an emotional approach, Reeves pushed an ethos approach, which allowed the power and authority of the candidates to influence.

Rosser’s approach was to influence, reassure and convince the viewers. Unlike Song, Reeves’s approach at advertisement was not a guessing game.

In one of Reeves campaigns regarding Eisenhower, he pushes the feeling of power and assurance. The one minute black and white commercial began by asking about all the questions regarding problems in the United States. Vivid images of the war, hard workers and money prices, were followed by the presidential candidate saying that this needs to stop!

It may seem odd, but Eisenhower didn’t once say how he could make it stop, yet the power in his voice and the slogan claiming “Eisenhower is the answer,” is convincing enough!

Reeve’s approach is to the point. Although the facts are often missing, he is putting out the problems in the current economy and using the candidate to pull the viewer in. There is no Song-like whimsical cultural approach, Reeves’s ads have one purpose –to convince and therefor sell.

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