Under Armour: Protect This House. I Will.

Under Armour, one of the world’s leading producers of athletic apparel, is notorious for their slogan “I will protect this house” since the moment it was said in their first commercial which aired in 2002. Eight years later, Under Armour aired a television commercial titled “Protect This House: I Will” featuring world-class athletes such as 8-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Throughout the commercial viewers get a glimpse of how these men train, overcome failure, and achieve greatness with the help of Under Armour products.

The commercial begins with an announcement that “this is combine training” and proceeds to show short video clips of numerous professional athletes training while the Under Armour song “I Will” plays in the background. Halfway through the commercial we see Michael Phelps fail at climbing the pegboard; fighter Georges St. Pierre fail in a match; and Brandon Jennings hit the floor on the basketball court. They overcome those obstacles and succeed at the end of the commercial.

Under Armour’s “I Will” video advertisement makes the argument that by using Under Armour products you will become a faster, stronger, and an all around better athlete. The target audience that this argument is directed to is athletes, but more specifically, male athletes who wish to improve their performance. Every athlete that appears in the commercial is an athletic male who is trying to improve their performance therefore it makes sense that this advertisement is geared toward people in the same situation.

In order to make their argument stronger, Under Armour uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos. First we will look at the logos, then the ethos, and finally the pathos.

Under Armour uses the rhetorical appeal of logos in their advertisement by showcasing athletes achieving their fitness goals while using Under Armour products. The audience watches Michael Phelps overcome the grueling pegboard and Brandon Jennings dominate on the court, all while dressed in Under Armour clothing. This leads to the conclusion that in order to be like these athletes and achieve fitness goals the target audience needs to use Under Armour products.

The rhetorical appeal of ethos is used throughout the entire advertisement by showcasing world-class athletes such as Brandon Jennings, Dez Bryant, Georges St. Pierre, and Michael Phelps. By situating these men in an athletic competitive environment, Under Armour is providing their target audience with a sense of ethos, which makes them appear to be credible to their target audience. An athletic male is able to recognize at least one of these men in the commercial and is able to respect their athletic performance and success.

Under Armour uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos in their advertisement in two different ways. The first is Under Armour’s creative use of a competitive, upbeat-sounding track with the lyrics “I Will” to complement the action that is going on in the advertisement in order to appeal to the audience’s emotions of wanting to be a stronger and more powerful athlete. The second way that Under Armour uses pathos is by showing the audience how athletes overcame failure. This plays on the audience’s emotions of never giving up by showing them that failure can occur when training but the athletes who use Under Armour never quit and persevere.

I strongly believe that this ad is very effective for it’s specific audience: athletic men. Athletes are always looking to improve their performance and by focusing the advertisement on male athletes who have achieved greatness, the target audience will be easily persuaded to believe that Under Armour will help them become stronger, faster, and overall better athletes.