Rhetorical Analysis of Pepsi Super Bowl Ad Campaign Essay Example

An example of rhetoric that interests me is the Pepsi commercial that aired during the 2019 Super Bowl. In the commercial, a lady is at a restaurant and orders a Coke. The restaurant only serves Pepsi, so the waiter asks the lady if Pepsi is ‘okay.’ It is then that a famous actor, Steve Correll comes in sounding astonished and reassures the waiter that Pepsi is more than ‘okay’. To show that Pepsi is more than ‘okay’ he begins to ask if life's greatest things are just ‘okay’.The commercial also features two more celebrities of different fan bases which appeals to a lot of viewers. Pepsi changes the meaning of ‘okay’ by utilizing ethos to make their product seem more trustworthy and desirable. By incorporating celebrities, ethos is shown because they create a sense of credibility and trust with the product. The lady at the restaurant who originally ordered a Coke is influenced by the celebrities and orders a Pepsi. Pepsi is intending to convince viewers that their product is the better option by refining the meaning of ‘okay’ to outpower Cocacola and convincingly presenting the argument. 

The rhetoric in this scenario would be the Pepsi company and the people acting in the commercial since they deliver the message. The primary rhetorical audience is soda drinkers, specifically people who enjoy Coca-Cola and Pepsi and are trying to decide which is better. The exigence of the commercial is to promote Pepsi products by using rhetoric to try to convince the audience to switch from Coca-Cola products to Pepsi products. The genre of this commercial would be comedy and persuasion. The rhetoric uses the music, and exaggerates it through various celebrities, hoping to encourage audiences to turn to Pepsi products. The use of a humorous genre can also be viewed as a form of pathos because it engages the feelings of the audience, making them form a positive opinion on Pepsi products. The medium is a visual representation and TV commercial. The tone of this commercial is humorous and passionate. In the beginning, it can be argued that the tone is also disgusted when Steve Correl is appalled by the waiter asking if Pepsi was ‘okay’. The most effective element of this commercial would be the tone because it is able to persuade the audience to switch from Coca-Cola to Pepsi. We see this in the commercial itself when the lady who originally ordered a Coca-Cola, changed to a Pepsi after seeing celebrities romanticize Pepsi. Having the actors express such a positive view on Pepsi products greatly encourages people to change their perspectives. A less effective element of this piece of rhetoric would be the medium. While the commercial was playing on one of the most popular nights to watch commercials, there are constraints because not everybody watches the super bowl/ TV. The Pepsi company should invest in advertising through different platforms as well such as magazines and billboards. Overall, this is a well-thought-out piece of rhetoric and it does a sufficient job persuading soda drinkers to switch from Coca-Cola to Pepsi products.