Persuasive Strategies: Rhetorical Analysis Of “Want It All” Ad By Nike

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course/Section Date Rhetorical Analysis of “Want it all” Ad by Nike I. Introduction Ads are created to be effective. However, not all advertisements reach their targets and are as effective as intended. This is because persuading your intended audience is not simple and only if your ad has the correct level of appeal, will it reach its target. Ads use rhetoric to create appeal, and the rhetoric together with its appeal can be weak or strong. An effective advertisement has a strong rhetorical appeal. An effective advertisement has pathos, logos, and ethos. Besides being appealing to the eyes, advertisements must also appeal to other senses. Effective advertisements reach the audiences’ hearts. Effective advertisements do not plainly use logos or the logical appeal, but pathos and ethos are also incorporated. Nike is famous for making fascinating ads whose theme is mostly courage, dreams, and energy. Nike’s ads are created to draw individuals interested in sports. Nonetheless, they also appeal to a wider target audience reason being; they strategically incorporate imagination and creativity into their ads. Nike ads, even though they largely target sports lovers celebrate victory and aspirations. And for this, they are loved by a wider audience. II. Discussion This analysis is of a Nike ad titled "Want it all," released on December 22, 2017. Nike is a renowned brand of sports shoes and attire. The brand is renowned worldwide by its brand name and logo. Nike’s swoosh logo easily distinguishes it from their competition. Being among the most notorious brands in sports fashion, Nike vies with Adidas, under Puma and Armour. While it has established a successful brand name, Nike still spends heavily on marketing and advertising. Nike brings special creativity to its advertisements, and this makes them excel. Outstanding ads rely heavily on creativity and are designed to strike the right chord with the audience. This ad, like other ads done by Nike, is created on the theme of dreams and energy. Most of Nike’s ads are about dreaming and achieving, about pushing the line. Sports entail courage and energy, and this fact is no secret to millions of sports fans worldwide. Whenever Nike makes an advertisement, the theme is usually related to courage, energy, and enthusiasm. The ad begins with a child intently watching others as they play basketball. The child is standing by a basketball court where he can view some other children – teenagers above his age – playing basketball. The dream sequence persists and goes through stages. From there, the dream sequence reaches a training court. They are seated and learning from a coach. In the following scene, the child has grown up. He is seated in his room watching basketball on Television and dribbling inside his room. His mother cries from the next room to stop dribbling. The now teenager keeps growing and is now a basketball player. He now plays for a team. The dre...