The document provides a rhetorical analysis of a Budweiser advertisement featuring King Kong. In 3 sentences: The advertisement aims to emotionally connect with viewers by using King Kong as a symbol of power and strength, with text suggesting drinking Budweiser will make one feel like "the king." However, the analysis finds the ad's logic and credibility to be weak, though some emotional appeals around the imagery may be effective. Overall, the rhetorical devices used did not strongly persuade the analyzer, who saw it more as a movie-related ad than one building a real connection between the beer and feelings of success.

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Mitchell De Both
ENG103
Dr. Disarro
4 October 2010
Rhetorical Analysis
A 1996 survey of children ages nine to 11 found that children were more familiar
with Budweiser’s television frogs than with Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, the Mighty
Morphin’ Power Rangers, or Smokey the Bear (Leiber). Alcohol is one of the most
advertised products worldwide. The advertisements can be seen at least once
while flipping through the television, through a magazine, and in movies. As
most Americans know, while watching the Super Bowl, alcohol ads flood the
sports new stations. But why the Super Bowl, there is much more than what
meets the eye. Advertisers in general are emotionally connecting to their
audiences, using colors to support their claims, and creating illusions that
promote their service or product.
As we take a look at the supplied Budweiser advertisement (Soren), what do
your eyes make their first connection with, maybe the text, the blimp, or the giant
gorilla known as King Kong? Whatever it may be, it has a message and strategic
placing. When taking an overview glance at the picture, you see King Kong
holding a beautiful woman in a majestic setting (what I find humorous is that the
creator decided not to put the planes shooting hundreds of bullets at the massive

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gorilla). The gorilla is a sign of power and strength, the primitive man. The text
tidbit, "Nothing beats sitting on top of the world with the love of your life and a
cold beer… AAAhhh, it's good to be the king," supports the visual and clearly
states what the beer companies want you to think. If you drink this beer, you will
be strong, the king, and you will have love in your life. The setting in the
background further aids in creating that illusion the advertisers want you to fall
for. Or maybe the red can and blimp stick out most. Red brings text and images to
the foreground (OSX). The color red is also a color of passion, sexuality, power, and
courage. The use of colors in advertising has psychological effects on the audience to
help pull out certain emotions. Pulling out the emotions mentioned previously seems
perfect for the type of advertisement.
When analyzing this image in context of the rhetorical triangle, King King
is looking pretty weak. The text can be viewed as a weak logos appeal because
the statement is claiming to be true, but there is no logical sense to it. No way
am I persuaded to believe that if I drink Budweiser beer I’ll become successful
and happy in life. And since I’m not logically connected to this advertisement,
how can it hold reliability and credibility. When looking at the advertisement, I
see no credibility. This ad needs a lesson from an infomercial. But maybe the
emotional appeal, or pathos, captivates some viewers. The beautiful sunset, the
city skyline, the woman, they all can convince the audience to say, "Hey that
looks like a good time".
The advertisement in general is weak, but has some thought behind it, as I
compared it to the rhetorical triangle and personal opinion. The persuasive

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messages did a poor job appealing to my senses. At first I thought it was clever,
but after further analyzing I realized it was just a cool movie-related
advertisement.

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Works Cited
Leiber, L. Commercial and Character Slogan Recall by Children Aged Nine to 11 Years.
Berkeley, CA: Center on Alcohol Advertising, 1996.
Soren. Inspirational Quotes. N.p., 19 June 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2010.
QSX Software. Color Wheel Pro. QSX Software, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2010.

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