“Sure Can!” – Jennifer Hudson & Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers is a company that provides various dieting services to help maintain and lose weight by forming helpful habits, eating smarter, getting more exercise and providing support, opposed to other quick fixes. In their commercial titled “Sure Can!” American Idol winner Jennifer Hudson briefly explains her personal experience using Weight Watchers, speaking to Americans that have had trouble or concerns with their current weight and are looking for motivation to lose weight. The twenty-five second clip features Jennifer Hudson using ethos, pathos, and logos, to help promote Weight Watcher services.
To briefly summarize the commercial, the audience can see Jennifer Hudson in standing in a bare room with the word “can’t” painted red across the back wall. “Hey guys, Jennifer Hudson Here,” she states, helping the audience feel like she is apart of them. She goes on to explain her before and after story stating, “my life before Weight Watchers was full of can’t, and now after using Weight Watchers its can.” She then explains that after using Weight Watchers she feels “lighter and liberated.” The commercial then concludes with Jennifer Hudson saying “Weight Watchers, because it works,” then provides the website and a phone number for more information.
This commercial relies heavily on ethos and pathos arguments in order to try to convince the audience that Weight Watchers will work for them too. By using Jennifer Hudson, an artist that the majority of Americans will recognize, Weight Watchers is trying to familiarize themselves with the audience. Weight Watchers hopes that the audience will see this commercial and think, “I know who Jennifer Hudson is, she’s famous and she has problems like me”. By using Jennifer Hudson, Weight Watchers is given a degree of creditability and helps to provide the audience with a familiar face which the audience respects and would deem worthy of their attention. By explaining her story using the exaggerated words “can’t” and “can,” Jennifer Hudson hopes to make the audience feel the difference of before and after using Weight Watchers. The bold red letters stand out to the audience and help to visually show a positive impact that Weight Watchers had with this American Idol.
What this commercial lacks is logos. The audience is presented with little logistical information, thus the audience is forced to believe what Jennifer Hudson is claiming. This lack of evidence could have a negative impact in the persuasiveness of this advertisement. Because there is no proof provided that Weight Watchers works, the audience may not trust that Weight Watcher works. In most testimonial advertisements there are before and after photos or statistics, however this commercial lacks such evidence.
In summary, I would agree that this commercial is successful in the ability to persuade the to learn more about Weight Watchers. By using and American Idol winner, the audience immediately recognizes who is promoting the services, thus are more inclined to listen to what the speaker is talking about. Such an audience would also feel that the speaker is creditable, thus giving the audience the inclination to believe that Weight Watchers works. The argument could be improved by adding logos in order to reach the audience that does not know who Jennifer Hudson is, helping to make their claims stronger and more believable.
This is a really interesting way to dig into the ad. I like how you explained the pathos and ethos and i completly agree that if there were more logos it would make you feel more comfortable using the product. Alot of people who just focus on the famous person and the ethos of the ad would be completly on board but those who worry about the effects or medical issues involved might not be as sold.
ReplyDeleteI agree that using a celebrity adds product appeal for the consumer. Using an American Idol celebrity is especially effective. Even more than other stars, this is a person the audience can really relate to because before winning American Idol she really was just an average American.
ReplyDeleteIn most commercials of this kind, there should have been more logos. But in this particular case, I think it's fine to leave it out. Weight Watchers is already a well-recognized, very popular weight-loss service. I would imagine that most television viewers who have considered losing weight but haven't taken action have at least heard of the Weight Watchers brand. If Weight Watchers were still trying to introduce their brand to the public, or they lacked a very positive reputation, that would be a completely different story. But I think the absence of logos is okay here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Richard that Weight Watchers carries its own credibility because of how popular the program is and how the company has a tendency to use famous people as their spokespeople. Jennifer Hudson was a great celebrity to choose because a lot of people know about the tragedy that occurred when her family was murdered. So, in my opinion, there was definitely an underlying use of pathos in here because of the sympathy that I felt for her.I also felt proud of her for losing weight in a healthy way because despite the hardships in her life, she is still maintaining her health and wants to encourage others to as well.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I was one of those people who didn't who Jennifer was before I read this ad and you guys comments. So I understand what the writer meant. I think that one of the purposes of an ad is to reach out as many people as they can. But once again, the commercial limited in a few minutes, so choose the most effective method is very important.
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