Vote Mike Bloomberg: A Rhetorical Situation for America's Betterment - Essay Sample

Introduction

A rhetorical situation in the advertisement exists because the elements of such a situation are there. There is an audience, which is the American people, the issue which is to vote for Mike Bloomberg as their president and the setting, which is the election period in America. The advert the uses expected expressions are showing empathy and support to the citizens of America. It goes further and expresses the desire to provide opportunities for jobs, excellent health services, and better education for children and fair payment to teachers. The advertisement has made sure that its audience knows that Mike Bloomberg is an individual with a remarkable character; he works hard and goes to college and later on builds a successful business, he has been a leader and is highly involved in the betterment of the society including ensuring safety and security of Americans through campaigning against gun violence. The rhetoric is a form of manipulation that is highly used in politics to persuade voters. The advertisement is quite natural for the audience to comprehend since it identifies with their lives. According to Aristotle, rhetoric comprises several factors, including logos, ethos, telos, pathos, and Kairos. This article tries to determine how the advertisements used some of these factors to persuade its audience.

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Notably, to start with, the advertisement uses the ethos mode of rhetoric. Ethos is more concerned with trustworthiness and credibility. The ad begins by stating Mike Bloomberg`s background; he studied to college and after that started a business. It says his experience and credentials - he was a mayor. This information helps the audience to understand Mike fro, which he is and how he intends to portray himself to the public. Logos refers to the reasoning; it is more concerned with statistics figures and facts. Through his business Mike has created tens of thousands of jobs; He was also mayor of New York City for three terms; he created thousands of affordable houses and helped raise a graduating number of children graduating. Pathos is used to trigger empathy, emotions and show the sharing of shared values (Holloway, Rachel 122). It uses the audience's opinions and views to incite the desired action or agreement. The advertisement uses tragic incidents like gun violence and when New York city suffering the tragedy of 9 /11 to trigger the emotions of the people. He even puts in his money to create the National Rifle Association movement. He funded college education for the poor and supported medical researches that have saved lives. These are but a few of the activities that the advert uses to persuade the audience emotionally.

As much as rhetoric in politics is used to manipulate the audience, it can also be used to bring agreement between people who have different views about an issue. A speaker may use rhetoric to persuade an intended audience to change their opinions about a specific topic or theme of concern. Telos is an element of rhetoric that can be used to achieve a particular purpose such that even though the audience may have a different opinion, the language used in the advert can be used to make them agree with something they were against. The primary purpose of this advert is to bring the people of America to vote for Mike. At the end of the advert, Mike is referred to as a job creator, problem solver and leader to convince the audience that only Mike can meet their needs and therefore voting him in as the President would be wise step" Kairos" directly translated as "setting" is also relevant in this context, as we are in the year 2019 just a year before the 2020 general election which means that the timing of the advert is precisely making the advert relevant (Holloway, Rachel 146). Generally, this commercial uses rhetoric tactics from both a political and advertisement point of view to persuade the American voter that the only way to enjoy the services mentioned in the advert is to vote for Mike Bloomberg.

Apart from rhetoric, the use of figurative language has also been used in the endeavor to persuade the audience to vote in Mike. It uses the idiom" back from the ashes." This is an idiom used to show that the Mayor brought the city to normal functioning after a disaster." He sees menace coming from Washington," the use of personification to emphasize the capabilities of the danger. This is shown by attributing human characteristics to the threat. With the help of alteration like" turn the tide," the advert captures the audience`s attention. The use of pictures of fellow Americans of all diversity and from all walks of life is a captivating technique that makes the audience feels at home. It includes Americans of all races, all ages with different needs like education, health services, and safety to ensure that no American feels secluded. The imagery is a compelling element in advertising that has not been left out. Usually, a massive fire would be tough to put out even with the local fire brigade, but in the advert, we see a plane putting out the fire to by boosting the efforts of the firefighters. The advert advocates for Mike Bloomberg as the best option for America as president. It goes on to state that Mike is a leader, Job creator, and problem solver and those are the factors that are required to build the country. Therefore disregarding Mike would mean that the Americans don't want their problems solved; they don't want jobs or a good leader as their president.

The goal of an advertisement is to make someone or a given audience to believe in something. Politicians use advertisements with special effects to try and persuade people to support them in their beliefs, policies, or point of view. If not careful, these advertisements may make people make decisions that they didn't mean to. For the good of the audience, it is essential to try and understand the language of persuasion. This is most important when it comes to political rhetoric since it is a sensitive matter with adverse consequences including war and terrorism. Advertisers show political adverts only in bits that have been edited to suit their purpose. Wrong decision making is one of the negative impacts of the advertisement (Holloway, Rachel 167). In the Mike Bloomberg advert, the pictures could have been edited for all we know to suit the politician's purposes.

On the other hand, many Americans are innocently persuaded to vote in a candidate who might not keep his promise or meet their expectations. This is a public discourse that could give Americans peace or war, justice or injustice, etc. To sum it up, this is a controversial issue that requires true and accurate information so that the decision is made correctly. An ethical advertisement dramatically depends on what the audience believes. All Americans, in this case, believe that America needs a job creator, problem solver and a leader for a president. Therefore the advert does not go against what people think and hence, it can be deemed ethical.

Furthermore, an advertisement should not give false information to the public if it is to be deemed as moral. The information provided in Mike Bloomberg`s publication is available on the internet and is accessible to the whole society. The activities mentioned in the advert happened and some of the audience was part of it. The information is based on facts and therefore makes the advertisement legitimate.

Conclusion

In summary, it is only fair that as much as we strive to persuade people to stand with us in our opinions, views, and beliefs, it is of much essential to make sure that they support us based on truthful and accurate information. Legitimate techniques like proper timing, an analogy which entails comparing a situation with another or nostalgia where politicians promise to bring back better days can be used to persuade support. Illegitimate techniques like scapegoating, which means placing blames on others is just piling problems over other problems. Advertising can still serve its purpose even when it`s ethical.

Works Cited

Holloway, Rachel L. "Midnight in America: The political conventions in 2016." The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017. 27-75.