1. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1
Rhetorical Analysis of a Pillow Pets Commercial
Maxine Clark
Endicott College
Van Loan School of Professional and Graduate Studies

2. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2
Abstract
Although the As Seen on TV concept has been around for decades, with virtually hundreds of
products marketed using the ubiquitous logo, the advent of the internet coupled with television
infomercials has had a powerful effect on the marketing and sales strategies employed to sell
these types of products. One of them is the Pillow Pet. Who among us hasn't seen a commercial
for Pillow Pets and thought to ourselves, "Now why didn't I think of that?" That is because the
idea for the Pillow Pet came from Jennifer Telfer, an ordinary mother of two boys who noticed
that her children "smashed down their stuffed animals in order to sleep on them." Telfer
modified the idea to create the Pillow Pet. (http://mypillowpets.com/message-from-the-founder/)
The Pillow Pets commercial on YouTube one example of many products for children that
leverage this type of television-internet, one-two punch strategy of advertising. This paper lays
out a rhetorical analysis of a recent Pillow Pets commercial by exploring the marketing strategies
employed to create appeal for children and parents.

3. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 3
Rhetorical Analysis of a Pillow Pets Commercial
The advertising industry is self-regulated, with guidelines recommended by the
Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CARU),
established to protect the interests of children from inappropriate and predatory advertising
strategies and marketing campaigns. While the networks have collaboratively implemented
similar standards closely resembling those of CARU's, independent cable television stations
decide for themselves which guidelines to follow. CARU's internet regulations are even less
stringent than those for television, but nevertheless, some regulation has been put into place to
define what is ethical and what crosses the line. (AEF, 2005; Calvert, 2008; Shah, 2010)
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2005), the average child watches
about four hours of television a day and sees more than 20,000 commercials each year. "In 2000
alone, U.S. toy companies spent more than $837 million on advertising their products." (Shah,
2010, ). Pillow Pets have been around since 2003 (http://mypillowpets.com/about/), and have
steadily built their brand through carefully crafted advertisements which appeal to children of all
ages and genders, as well as their parents. "What began with the simple goal of transforming a
simple stuffed animal into a functional item for children has grown into an amazing jungle of
popular retail and wholesale products." (http:/mypillowpets.com/about/)
The widespread allure of the Pillow Pet is the key to its success, as evidenced by their
successful internet commercial. It hits all the right notes, including the "Four Ps" of marketing
which include product, place, price and promotion. (Calvert, 2008, p. 206) The ad incorporates
"production features like lively action and sounds designed to grab a child's attention" (Calvert,
2008) For example, consider the upbeat, female voice used in describing the Pillow Pet. The
marketer's message is delivered loud and clear, via a pleasant female voice, possibly of a mother

4. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 4
who knows what a child wants and needs, who also understands that parents need justification to
buy a pillow pet for their child. "In the U.S., research from the American Psychological
Association (APA) shows that children under the age of eight are unable to critically
comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as
truthful, accurate and unbiased." (Shah, 2010) The fact that the marketers know this is clearly
evident in the ad by the kind, but authoritative tone of the speaker, not asking or commanding,
but firmly directing viewers to "say hello to the Pillow Pet."
Consider next that the ad incorporates a cheerful, repetitive, catchy jingle which builds
"familiarity with the product and, therefore, increases the probability of purchasing and using it."
(Calvert, 2008, p. 208) Also according to Calvert (2008), "Studies have found that children aged
three to eight were more attentive to commercials that were higher in audio than in video
complexity." The message used in the jingle is direct and easy for a child to understand. It is
sung by a group of children and quite simply states, "It's a pillow. It's a pet. It's a Pillow Pet." As
mentioned, a strategy to get a child's attention is use of repetition. (Calvert, 2008) During the
course of the commercial, children are shown hugging, stroking or sleeping on their Pillow Pets
thirty-three times. Of course, there is more than one form of repetition going on as it relates to
the ad itself. Another method of repetition not featured in the commercial, but used by the
company, includes repeating the commercial during a single commercial break or throughout a
single program to reinforce the message. (Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection, 2004)
Toy advertisements are notorious for exaggerating a toy's performance, and the Pillow
Pet commercial is no exception. For adults, a Pillow Pet is obviously not a pet, but for a child
young child, it is quite possible that the Pillow Pet could be construed as an actual pet. The

5. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 5
photography shows the pets' Velcro straps being torn open by smiling, children, all between the
ages of two and approximately six or seven. Interestingly, Calvert (2008) suggests it is during the
stage of preoperational thought, roughly from age two to age seven, in which young children use
animistic thinking, believing that imaginary events and characters can be real. Given the images
projected in the ad, and particularly one sequence showing Pillow Pets popping open, it is easy to
miss the swift, almost undetectable hand, moving in and out of each frame to unfasten the Velcro
strap. The attention-grabbing technique of using animated stars and magical-sounding chimes
only adds to the enchanted effect. (Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection, 2004) And as if all of that doesn't evoke an emotional response from a child, the ad
directs consumers to "adopt your Pillow Pet today," as if the Pillow Pet were a real animal.
Between the ages of three and seven, children gradually draw clearer distinctions
between what is real and what is imaginary, and their attention can be held longer. (Chandler,
1997) This is also usually the time they make their first independent purchase. These children
have become increasingly attractive to marketers because they have their own significant sources
of income acquired through allowances and gifts. (Calvert, 2008) To that end, when it comes to
the language used to market the Pillow Pet, the advertisers speak directly to the child consumer
in their own language. They bombard children with adjectives normally used in reference to
stuffed toys such as cute, huggable, soft, and cuddly, concurrently reinforcing the message by
flashing the words "soft and cuddly" on the screen. This technique is replicated several times
throughout the advertisement, with expressions displayed across in a kid-friendly font, each
followed by an exclamation mark. Following this, the ad shows a hand smoothing the pastel
chenille fabric to still further emphasize this message through visual means.

6. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 6
Marketers understand the need child consumers have for something new, for acceptance,
for being noticed, for change, to become attractive, and for the ideal family and ideal kids. The
bandwagon approach is used as "a form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to
join the crowd or be on the winning side." (Management Style Guide, 2008) The advertisement
makes use of this strategy informing viewers that "over a million kids are already enjoying their
very own Pillow Pet," and panning to a shot of some girls at a sleepover party, each laying on a
Pillow Pet. This could easily lead young children to think that in order to fit in with their peers,
they will need a Pillow Pet too.
An effective marketing technique that appeals to both parents and children is use of
diversity. This is achieved by incorporating different races and nationalities into the imaginary to
reflect the product's universal appeal. The Pillow Pets advertisement scored well in this category
by representing several races and nationalities as well as both genders. "When it comes to
gender, toys for girls are generally presented in an indoor setting with an adult present, while
toys ads directed at boys typically show the toy in an outdoor setting, with a boy playing without
adult supervision." (Nzegwu, 2000) The Pillow Pets commercial stays true to form by clearly
defining the gender characteristics of each Pillow Pet based on the setting. The masculine Pillow
Pets were all filmed outdoors, with the green frog and the brown dog both photographed on
grass. The brown monkey that looked to be climbing a tree was later shown being held by a little
boy in a tree. In contrast, the decidedly feminine, light purple unicorn and the pink pig were both
located on beds featuring pastel linens.
The advertisement's messages to adults address moms and grandparents, noticeably
circumventing dads. In a shot showing a girl enjoying a game of dress-up and tea party with her
Pillow Pet, the ad appeals to overworked parents by describing it as "fun and easy," implying

7. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 7
that an adult's help or involvement will not be needed when their child plays with their pillow
pet. The same message is communicated during a scene in which a toddler boy unfastens his
Pillow Pet without any help. These are both shrewd tactics given today's economic pressures
require households to work many more hours to support themselves than in the past, detracting
from parent's time for their children. In the same vein, this ad puts pressure on those same
overworked parents to respond to their child's desire to assuage their guilt. In other words, the
Pillow Pets advertisement effectively "makes kids want what they don't need and puts a lot of
pressure on parents to respond to those needs." (Shah, 2010)
In their appeal to adults, the Pillow Pet marketers incorporate language that speaks to
parents' pragmatism, emphasizing the Pillow Pet's versatility when it comes to "playtime, sleep
time, or anytime." Reason and logic are further drawn upon with phrases such as "great for kids
of all ages" paired with a image of teens hanging out on bed, followed by another scene of a
toddler reaching out for her Pillow Pet. The advertisement suggests that the Pillow Pet is "perfect
for the overnight trips to Grandma's house," an idea supported by a sequence of pajamas being
folded into the Pillow Pet. Additionally, phrases such as "this is a pillow that your child or
grandchild will use every night," and "it's a pet with a purpose," reinforce the rationale. As the
word "durability" flashes across the screen, a pair of hands pries at the stitching to demonstrate
the quality of the product. Another message aimed at parents is of a woman putting a Pillow Pet
into a washing machine while the narration describes the Pillow Pet as "machine washable." And
if all of that isn't enough to convince an adult to buy a Pillow Pet, consider the price. It is hard to
argue that it is "the perfect $20 gift for any special occasion."
According to Calvert (2008), "Before they reach the age of eight, children believe that the
purpose of commercials to help them in their purchasing decisions; they are unaware that

8. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 8
commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products." A typical television
advertisement in the U.S. is thirty seconds, but the Pillow Pets commercial two minutes long.
Although on the surface it would appear an advertisement of this length risks losing child's
interest, studies have shown that two-year olds do not recognize the beginnings and endings of
programs, and children between the ages of five and eight continue to pay attention to when
commercials come on. At first glance, the Pillow Pet commercial looks amateur and cheap.
However, when viewed through the lenses of logos, ethos, and a great deal of pathos, the Pillow
Pet advertisement is very persuasive to both children and adults.

9. PILLOW PETS AD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 9
References
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(http://mypillowpets.com/message-from-the-founder/)
(http:/mypillowpets.com/about/)
Shah, A. (2010, November 21). Children as consumers. Retrieved from Speaker Presentation
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