So the other day I came across an old German commercial that I thought was hilarious, and I decided to analyze the rhetorical devices that made it so entertaining.
This commercial relies heavily on pathos in order
to convey its message. The commercial starts off with a father and his son at a
grocery store, when the boy puts a bag of sweets into the shopping cart and the
father puts the bag back onto the shelf. This back and forth happens several
times until the boy responds with every parent’s nightmare, a tantrum in a
public area.
For the first 35 seconds of
the 40 seconds commercial, the viewer still has no idea what product is being
advertised. Finally after the store is littered with products flung off
the shelf by the boy, the camera zooms in on the father’s humiliated faces and
two words appear, “Use Condoms.” The commercial capitalizes on the juxtaposition
of a serious situation and comedic relief.
Everyone is able to relate to this
situation even if they are not a parent, because everyone has either been in a
situation where have witnessed an out of control child or even been the child
throwing the tantrum. The pathos in this commercial emerges in the form of
annoyance towards the child, sympathy for the father, and finally a small
chuckle when the two words fade into picture.
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