Ad Analysis

Every day many Americans sit back and watch the world go by, dreaming of getting out and reaching their personal ambitions. Although everyone has goals in mind to achieve, success depends on the drive he or she has inside. Imagine a shoe that can supplement that motivational drive. The recent Nike Air Zoom Spiridon advertisement found in Self magazine this month creates a conceptual situation that a running shoe can take the place of the ever-faithful companion, man’s best friend. The caption states this running shoe will be there to give your motivation, “a gentle tug toward the door sitting patiently with that certain look in it’s eye that says it’s go time, let’s lace up, get outdoors and take it up a notch.� This Nike ad contains powerful appeals to consumer’s desires for individual athletic achievement and makes a very convincing claim using all elements of the rhetorical triangle.
When analyzed, the artistic components which include layout, color use and media show the techniques used by the advertisers. Readers are influenced by the way images are represented and how they are applied to their own lives. This specific Nike ad presents a two-page spread of the distinctly eye-catching Air Zoom Spiridon shoe among

The claim Nike produces is effective for its audience because of its strong use of the rhetorical elements of ethos, logos and pathos. Perhaps the strongest of these is Nike’s overall credibility appeal otherwise known as ethos. When one is asked to think about a running shoe, most often the Nike brand comes to mind. Nike is a very prominent leader in the sportswear market and does not even need to place (the word Nike) their name anywhere in the ad. The small swoosh icon says it all for the company. The Nike Corporation relies on the reputation and name of their company to gain readers’ trust.

Nike recognizes its audience and plays toward their interests very wisely. The logic of the ad states that buying the shoes buys fitness motivation. The persuasive caption under the picture of the running shoe provides evidence to back up the logic. It describes the shoe taking on the role of a dog begging the owner to get outside and run. With the shoe, one will have both the motivation and comfort not only to run, but also to “take it up a notch.” The pathos of the advertisement plays on the emotions of consumers who do not fit in with the rest of the fit and athletic modern culture. Nike associates the product with a desirable ideal and/or lifestyle that the audience finds app