Introduction
The rhetorical triangle is used to analyze the attributes of a presentation in bringing out the intended message to the audience and consists of the ethos (presenter), logos (message) and pathos (audience). When analyzing a piece of media, it is imperative to know the person who authored the presentation and how he expresses himself trough such media (Writing Resources, para. 1). Besides, we need to know the message being passed, the intended audience and whether it delivers the desired impact on the audience (Burniske, 2008, pg. 13).
For our analysis of presentations, we shall use two Toyota car advertisements.
The Toyota ‘Bugger’ Advert
This ad is authored by Toyota Motor Corporation and the main idea behind it is to show that the Toyota Hilux is more powerful than thought. We can see the farmer use it for various functions in the farm; he tries to straighten one post on his fence and the whole fence tumbles down. Next, he tries to tow a tractor and instead the front axle of the tractor comes off, he then tries to uproot a stump, instead, the stump flies above the car, destroying a chicken shed. He then attempts to pull a cow out of a trench but ends up hurting the cow, finally, he accelerates the car suddenly, causing his airborne dog to miss the vehicle and fall in mud, he also sprays his wife with mud (IMOTOR, 2008).
The ethos in this presentation is Toyota Corp., logos is Toyota Hilux’ power while pathos is the potential buyer of this vehicle. In this advertisement, the author mainly concentrates on the message delivery, the author and audience are rarely referred to as Toyota wants the message to have its desired impact on the audience. Each aspect of the rhetorical triangle was successful in this presentation.
Toyota RAV4 ‘Happy Together’ Advert
This presentation shows a couple wake in bed in a happy mood, each goes through the morning chores when everything goes wrong. A hair dryer connected to the power supply is left in the shower, the cord holding the window is cut, a bowling ball drops from the closet, a flamethrower is fitted next to the cupboard and finally a trip wire at the stairs (Pati07, 2006). The main idea being communicated is that this couple is fighting over the control of the new car (RAV4) packed down the street, and this is the logos. The author is Toyota Corp. while the audience is the potential buyer, probably a single owner.
While the advert succeeds at showing us the length that one can go in order to have control of the Toyota RAV4, it fails to give the reasons why one should own this specific car, therefore it scores low on the message. The presentation also lacks a target audience and generally targets anybody.
Comparison
Considering all aspects of the rhetorical triangle, the ‘Bugger’ advert is more effective as it convinces the audience to purchase the Toyota Hilux by giving him positive attributes of the vehicle. Besides, the target audience in the ‘Bugger’ advert is more definite than on the ‘Happy Together’, the latter targets anybody while the former targets people who need powerful vehicles for various purposes around the home and beyond. A similarity between the two presentations is the use of humor and this keeps the audience entertained as they get the message.
Reference List
Burniske, R. W. (2008). Literacy in the Digital Age. (2nd Ed). California: Corwin Press.
IMOTOR. (2008). Toyota Advert- BUGGER! Web.
Patil07. (2006). TOYOTA RAV4 AD. Web.
Writing Resources. (N. d.). The Rhetorical Triangle. Web.