Analytical essay example
Coca-Cola Ad Critique
- Subject
- English & Literature
- Type
- Analytical essay
- Citation style
- APA 6
- Length
- 4 pages
About this sample
The paper analyzes a Coca-Cola advertisement in which a penguin drinks a cold Coke, examining how the ad uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade consumers. It is organised into a brief introduction, one paragraph for each rhetorical appeal, and a short concluding paragraph.
- Rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos)
- Coca-Cola advertising
- Persuasion in advertising
- Visual and brand credibility
- Emotional appeal to young consumers
How it opens
An interesting advertisement to discuss would be one where a man is having a good time while drinking a cold Coca-Cola. As he returns to take the bottle, he realizes that it's not there. However, there was a penguin behind his chair that was drinking the cold Coke. This is a beautiful example of how ethos, logos, and pathos are used with the intention of persuasion in ads.
Ethos implies the use of credibility (Sproat, 2012). The flier has Coca-Cola's logo at the top, and this is a logo that is associated with popularity as it is known all over the world. Moreover, the poster appeals to ethos because of the label that is on the penguin's Coke bottle. Subtly, this is meant to persuade consumers to select Coke instead of other brands despite its high price.
Logos means the application of reason and influencing the mind of the consumer (Sproat, 2012). An appeal to logic is the fact that they choose to have a penguin in the advertisement. They communicate the message that Coke is so great that a penguin would travel to a tropical beach to get it. This is logical because if there were was to be a journey from the South Pole to a tropical beach, it had to be for a good cause. This demonstrates to the audience that Coke is pleasing and worth buying.
The opening section, transcribed from the PDF. The full paper continues below.
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Using an example well
Read it for how the paper is built, not for wording to reuse: how the introduction frames the question, how each paragraph moves from a claim to evidence, and how sources are cited in APA 6. Submitting any part of it as your own work would be plagiarism, and it is written for a different brief than yours.
Writing one yourself? Read the guide How to write an essay and the APA format guide.