Researchers in communication have long looked for elements in messages that strengthen persuasion. It is well-accepted that specific communication characteristics improve persuasion results. Font, color, and graphics are just a few examples of the visible message components that might influence how a message is assessed (Seo 177). Entrepreneurs with rational thinking and good strategic skills do not just randomly distribute commercials. Alternatively, they gradually guide the consumer toward adopting a new lifestyle as opposed to merely purchasing a new good or service by combining marketing and advertising strategies. Red color, testimonial propaganda, and pathos are all utilized in Wendy’s $5 Biggie Bag advertisement starring Reggie Bush to persuade potential customers to buy Biggie Bag meals.
Figure 1
Figure 1 illustrates the specific graphic commercial used, which is the Wendy’s $5 Biggie Bag. Reggie Bush, a former NFL player, serves as the focal point of this advertisement. He shares a Wendy’s Biggie Bag with a Wendy’s employee to begin the scene of the advertisement. He appears thrilled with the amount of food included in the Biggie Bag for just $5 while sporting his No. 5 jersey from his time playing collegiate football at the University of Southern California. He is disappointed that it will not be titled after him, in any case. The employee resists his pleading despite his constant barrage of name suggestions. The repeated implementation of the number five aims to create an association with the product, emphasize a relatively low price and stick in consumers’ long-term memory. This advertisement’s goals were to draw in customers, highlight a set pricing for the purchase, and promote a special offer. The image aims to raise public awareness of the lunch deal Wendy’s is giving for $5 only and what is included in it.
Ads can trigger pleasant affective experiences, which in turn boost persuasive outcomes like increasing favorable attitudes about or behavioral intentions toward the advocacy. Media studies also revealed that communications with both verbal and visual elements were more successful than those with solely verbal elements at evoking both negative and positive feelings (Seo 178). Fast food businesses have been exploiting color psychology for decades, notably the use of the color red, to sway consumers discreetly. The excessive use of red-colored objects in Wendy’s Biggie Bag ad is no exception since it is difficult to ignore them. According to a widely accepted belief, the usage of the color red by well-known fast-food companies in their logos and store decor is done to stimulate customers’ appetites and make them feel hungry. It is commonly believed that long wavelengths in the color red cause stimulation and arousal to rise (Lim et al.). Therefore, this may support the theory of the use of red color in order to provoke appetite in potential clients in Wendy’s commercial.
Advertising and propaganda are both effective media strategies that are usually hard to discern. When a celebrity or other individual supports a certain philosophy or item, testimony propaganda is used to influence people’s opinions without giving them a chance to carefully analyze the available facts (Lakomy). As it is evident, Wendy’s Biggie Bag ad uses testimonial propaganda by featuring Reggie Bush. The specter of a potential audience drastically expands since Reggie is a well-known football star. This kind of propaganda frequently uses respectable or well-known people to try to persuade the target audience. Businesses use it as a sophisticated type of advertising to raise demand for their products. When a well-known individual provides feedback on a product or service, it effectively: encourages new prospective customers, improves brand awareness, and increases traffic to one’s business’s website and physical locations. Even if the nutritional value of fast food is seriously disputed, athletes provide the right image to consumers by maintaining a fit and healthy physique. A single image of a sports star in a fast-food campaign might increase interest in that product or lead to hundreds, often even millions, of new customers.
Tailored persuasion in marketing plays a big part in appealing to an audience. Ethos, pathos, and logos are used in advertising to achieve these goals. Pathos is the ability to convince through an emotional plea, whereas ethos speaks to the ethical appeal or evidence of the author’s validity (Kovalskyi et al.). The use of logic or reasoning is known as logos, which serves as the deciding factor in whether or not a message is compelling (Kovalskyi et al.). In our highly consumer-driven world, emotions lead to reactions, and the reaction is to make a purchase. Pathos speaks to the fundamental emotions of the public, such as joy, anxiety, and pride. Pathos commercial samples frequently use humor appeal as well. This strategy is successfully applied in the Wendy’s Biggie Bag ad by showing a humorous exchange between Reggie Bush and a worker. An extremely uplifting comedy movie would typically feature this type of interaction. It appeals to consumers by making them smile and laugh in an effort to foster favorable brand associations.
Visual representations have a strong capacity to affect a variety of outcomes that are either directly or indirectly connected to persuasion, and marketers frequently take advantage of this phenomenon. Wendy’s used persuasive advertising, which makes use of consumers’ interests and desires to persuade them to buy its services or goods. The $5 Biggie Bag commercial from Wendy’s shows how the company may use pathos, colors, and propaganda strategies like testimonials to sway potential customers.
Works Cited
Kovalskyi, Bohdan, et al. “Optimization of the process of determining the effectiveness of advertising communication.” Data-Centric Business and Applications, 2020, pp. 51–72.
Lakomy, Miron. “Between the ‘camp of falsehood’ and the ‘camp of truth’: Exploitation of propaganda devices in the ‘Dabiq’ online magazine.”Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 45, no. 10, 2020, pp. 881–906.
Lim, Dongjae, et al. “Colour effects in green advertising.”International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 44, no. 6, 2020, pp. 552–562.
Seo, Kiwon. “Meta-analysis on visual persuasion– Does adding images to texts influence persuasion?”Athens Journal Of Mass Media And Communications, vol. 6, no. 3, 2020, pp. 177–190.