Links to rhetorical tools:

Here are links to the rhetorical tools used in this class:

Schemes & Tropes -- Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca -- Fallacies -- Burke -- Rhetorical Toolbox -- Conspiracy Rhetorics

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Head and Shoulders Teen Girl Outline


Introduction: We have all regrettably been teenagers, and we’ve all seen how blatantly targeted ads are for insecure adolescents.  In this particular 70’s shampoo advertisement, we can see how Head and Shoulders fixes this girl’s irreparably disfigured pubescent self by showing us what she’s thinking about – her diary, other girls, and her feet.

·         Her diary
o   Hand-written type
o   Style of writing adds to the feeling that this was written by this girl
o   Her insecurities are being made public
·         Other girls
o   Her insecurities are based on comparing herself to others
o   Is this the impact that other shampoo ads have on adolescents?
·         Her feet
o   Plays with the “naturalist” setting of the ad
o   Of course it’s natural to compare yourself to others, etc.
o   She’s the everygirl, so it’s natural for you to compare yourself to her

Conclusion: Ads in the 70’s typically used pinup girls or more traditionally attractive women to promote shampoo.  By using a more average, “natural” teenager in this ad, one might think it would be to subvert the norm – however, it continues to perpetuate the culture of insecurity by presenting the average as sub-par.  But hey, you could always buy some Head and Shoulders to fix that!

2 comments:

  1. Outline should be shorter and points that will help you remind yours for the speech

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  2. I feel like the outline could be a bit shorter, since it really lists out everything for your presentation rather than just the short, concise points that you need in order to make the presentation really shine.

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