Rhetorical Devices Used In If You Let Me Play

Ethos, Logos, Pathos Aristotle believes that there are three important rhetoric devices used in the art of persuasion. These rhetoric appeals are most commonly known as pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is used for creating emotional appeals like anger or happiness to persuade the audience on a certain claim. Ethos, in arguments, creates a sense of trustworthiness between the author and audience to make an appeal credible. Logos uses strategies of logic like inductive and deductive reasoning to persuade viewers. In a 1995 Nike advertisement known as, “If you let me play,” pathos, logos, and ethos are rhetoric devices utilized to portray a better way of life for young girls that are involved in sports. In January 1964, Bill Bowerman and Phillip

In a society where the sports marketing industry predominantly targeted men, Nike sought to go against the status quo and empower young girls to encourage them to participate in sports. Nike identifies the social issues of gender inequality by attacking the stereotype that young girls should not be encouraged to engage in physical in sports. The campaign identifies that young women will have a greater self-esteem and self-confidence if involved in sports.
The advertisement, "If you let me play," provides evidence to support the implementation of three rhetoric devices: pathos, egos, and logos. Pathos is intended to convince the audience of a specific argument to instill an emotional response. The advertisement uses pathos to make girls and young women feel better about themselves by promoting positivity through sports. Also, the image of the little girl on the Nike campaign poster shows an emotional connection with the audience through her soft smile. The sympathetic look allows the audience to share a common feeling that Nike is

This technique is commonly broken into three categories: pathos, ethos, and logos. The multi-billion-dollar company, Nike, is one of many companies that utilizes these techniques to not only sell their products, but present their values and morals as an athletic company. Nike’s, “If you let me play,” ad is a perfect example of a print advertisement that encompasses all three persuasion techniques. The ad has emotional appeal, using pathos to evoke feelings of strength and positivity in young girls and their parents urging them to embrace sports and physical activities. Ethos is a fairly simple persuasive technique for Nike to utilize due to their overwhelming success and popularity. With such a large company, it is easy to establish unspoken credibility. In order to establish further credibility, there are statistics and claims based on logical reasoning that exemplify an advertisement using logos to help the target audience understand exactly what Nike is striving to communicate. Through capitalizing on these persuasive techniques, Nike not only successfully promoted their female athletic apparel, but also educated the public on the importance of empowering young girls and encouraging them to participate in sports and physical activities for the overall betterment of their lives mentally, physically, and