Rhetorical Analysis Essay

I think this is going to be my topic for the essay. Feedback?

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Analyzing Rhetoric Assignment

For this assignment, I will be analyzing *drumroll, please* THE OLD SPICE COMMERCIALS.

The Land of the...Cool?

After watching this commercial the first time, I really didn't know what to think. Should I be offended? Should I laugh? All of my Romanian friends were posting links to this video on Facebook, infuriated that their national chocolate, Rom, had been Americanized.

Okay, maybe I should give some background information first. In Romania, Americanization is a sensitive topic. Many, if not the majority of the population, believe that America is gradually taking over the world. Romania is a very small but patriotic country. They have their own language, customs, genres of music, food, etc. English is beginning to sneak its way into daily vocabulary, as Romanians begin to learn it from the day they prove capable of speaking. Muzica Taraneasca has been shoved aside by the youth for the more favorable mainstream American music. Rom chocolate is an object of national pride. Frankly, it is one of the most delicious chocolates in the world (in my personal opinion,) and since the day of its creation, it has been wrapped in the Romanian flag-- a testiment of Romanian patriotism.

This commercial, which relies mostly on ethos, is clearly meant to be taken in a sarcastic way. There is no way that Rom would ever actually replace the Romanian flag wrapper for one with an American flag. This aspect of the commercial evokes a substantial amount of emotion in the viewer. As explained in the previous paragraph, Romanians are very bitter about the Americanization of their culture. I got to see this emotion first hand through my friends' angry Facebook rants.

At the same time, a child who is too young to understand the sardonic nature of this commercial may beg his mother to rush him to the store and buy him some of these "new" candy bars. Why? Because he, being of the younger, Americanized generation, wants to be a star...just like the Americans.

A final emotion-evoking element of this commercial is the fact that it is presented in English, with Romanian subtitles. This simple component is enough to anger any proud Romanian watching it.

All-in-all, I feel that this commercial is an extremely good example of rhetoric based on pathos, and a good representation of rhetoric in a culture other than our own.

Psh, who cares about substance, anyway?

Lunch is a notorious time for my roommate and me to discuss the "controversial" topics we encounter in our everyday lives. Almost every week, at least one of our conversations ends in the following manner.

"You know what I hate?"

"What do you hate?"

"I hate boring people. No one can carry a conversation anymore. I tried talking to someone in my class today, and we ran out of things to say after 20 seconds."

"I agree. It's hard to find people with substance, anymore."


Sad, but true, not many people know how to hold a meaningful conversation nowadays. Simply walking down College Avenue, one will hear countless "he-said-she-said"s, all in varying Valley Girl accents. One will catch snippets of conversations about "how drunk I got last night, brah." However, one will probably not hear anyone discussing the recent happenings in Egypt, the rise in tuition costs, etc. At least, not from anyone under 25 years of age. Occasionally, one may encounter someone with whom he can hold a conversation. The conversation usually gets awkward pretty quickly, though, when one of the people can think of nothing more to say.

Society today is certainly not lacking in the rhetoric department, but the younger generations really need to learn some conversational skills. Or speaking skills, in general.

If they don't, who knows where tomorrow will take us. No one wants to live in a meaningless world, as seen on Jersey Shore. "He-said-she-said" will only get us so far.