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Joshua Valdes

Professor Granillo

English 103

28 May 2019

Essay 4 Outline

I. Introduction

​a. Hook: ​“The rhetoric is the key to the character. It's the verbal music of the piece.”

(Peter Shaffer)

b. Transition:​ Rhetoric is a common tool that helps with the effectiveness and

persuasion of a certain standpoint.

c. Summary: ​ Living in capitalist America, rhetoric is used in many different ways; the

most common being forms of advertisement, specifically commercials.

d. Thesis:​ Bounty’s “Chopsticks” claims that their paper towels are the fastest and most

effective compared to all other brands, but the company fails to advertise this in a diverse

and inclusive way. Bounty’s advertisement turned out to be less effective due to their use

of pathos, which shadows logos and ethos, and a glossed over fallacy known as Begging

the Question. Looking at the commercial through a critical race theory lens, we are able

to see the issues regarding racism and how it can affect people's emotions. Thus

“Chopsticks” serves as a non inclusive form of advertisement that will not reach all

audiences.

II. Literature Review

A. Background of Advertisement
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a. Audience: ​The audience that is being targeted the most in this commercial would

be suburban families, specifically with children. Everyone knows that kids are

more likely to make a mess when it comes to eating. That is why in this

commercial it shows the kids spilling his food rather than the father and

grandmother. (“Chopsticks” 00:00:06) Another indicator that this is trying to

reach suburban families is the fact that they own a pet, specifically a dog.

(“Chopsticks” 00:00:14) Most of the time, people that live in cities can’t always

own a pet due to the small spaces and yards. When you think of owning a dog,

people mostly think of families in a house with yard space.

b. Claim:​ The issue with this advertisement is the idea that Bounty is most useful

for families with children. Even though it’s more likely for children to make a

mess, adults still do too. A product like paper towels are used by most people and

they aren’t always used to clean up messes. We see from (“Chopsticks”

00:00:06-00:00:16) that the major plot of this commercial is the kid spilling his

food causing a mess. Then we see from (“Chopsticks” 00:00:17-00:00:24) that the

main function of Bounty is to clean up messes. This will only apply to people that

are in this certain situation making the people that aren’t less motivated to buy the

product. Also the family we see in the commercial is predominantly white which

may be off putting and give the impression that it’s the only race entitled to using

the product because of the situation.

c. Strongest form of rhetoric: ​Logos

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B. Counterargument:​ This text is trying to convey that Bounty is not only the most

effective paper towel but also the quickest. For example, the scene where the boy spills

his food is in slow motion. (“Chopsticks” 00:00:06-00:00:16) Right after this happens

there is a voice in the background exclaiming “Quick! The quicker picker upper!”.

(“Chopsticks” 00:00:17-00:00:19) This is trying to state that in normal everyday

situations involving a spill, Bounty is the best and fastest solution to cleaning the mess.

III. Subtopic 1: Logos

A: T.S.​- Logos is the overall most effective use of rhetoric in this advertisement.

B: Transition:​ Though logos get the least amount of screen time in the commercial, it is

the most effective and can apply to all people.

C: Evidence:​ It states that Bounty picks up messes quicker and is two times more

absorbent compared to other paper towel brands. While this is being stated there is a shot

of the paper towel being used to clean up a spill and a side by side shot of a nameless

brand absorbing a liquid compared to the bounty brand absorbing the same liquid.

(“Chopstick” 00:00:18-00:00:24)

D: Analysis:​ ​ ​The images being shown were effective in the sense where they showed

Bounty working a lot better than the unnamed product.

E: Evaluation: ​This will cause the audience to believe that the Bounty is the better

product and they should be using it for their everyday cleaning needs.

IV. Subtopic 2: Pathos

A: T.S.​- Pathos is a form of rhetoric that’s purpose is to evoke emotion.

B: Transition: ​Bounty does this by making the first half of their commercial humorous.
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C: Evidence: ​ After seeing the scene in the first part of the commercial where the boy

drops the dumpling and the slow motion sequence happens (“Chopsticks”

00:00:06-00:00:16), this will leave the audience feeling joy and happiness, due to the

comical nature of it.

D: Analysis: ​ After feeling these emotions, they are more intrigued because they want to

see what’s going to happen next.

E: Evaluation: ​Now that the audience’s attention has been caught and are feeling joy and

happiness, Bounty’s product will hold that emotional connotation.

V. Subtopic 3: Ethos

A: T.S.​- Bounty’s “Chopsticks” took a different approach in their commercial when it

came to ethos, which is a credible or reliable source to support a claim.

B​: ​Transition: ​There was very little ethos used in this advertisement.

C: Evidence: ​The only thing that really stood out as ethos was the Bounty logo along

with its motto. The Bounty motto is “The Quicker Picker Upper, which they state at

(“Chopstick” 00:00:17-00:00:19).

D: Analysis: ​Since this has been their motto for a long time, people will tie that with

Bounty which at this point can be known as a familiar source that for most part is

credible.

D: Evaluation: ​By incorporating this motto throughout the commercial, people will see

this and think to themselves that’s a brand that I can trust since it has been around for so

long.

VI. Subtopic 4: Critical Race Theory

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White Suburban Family

A: T.S.​- Critical race theory concept, “everyday racism”, explains that it’s the type of

racism that occurs for minorities on a day to day basis such as negative comments,

patronizing, and assuming that minorities are intellectually inferior.

B: Transition: ​Critical race theorist Henry Louis Gates Jr. discusses the reasoning for this

in an article titled “America’s Second Sin”.

C: Evidence: ​He states “Now, more than a century and a half since the end of slavery in

the U.S., it drifts like a toxic oil slick as the super- tanker lists into the sea.”

(Gates Jr.)

D: Analysis: ​Gates Jr. is explaining that even though slavery has been abolished, there is

still a large amount of racism that occurs every day. We see this in Bounty’s commercial

due to the fact that the family is white.

E: Evaluation: ​Though it was not Bounty’s intention, this is an example of “everyday

racism” because it is not inclusive towards all races.

B1: Transition: ​A book titled “Minority Report: Evaluating Political Equality in

America” can support this idea by acknowledging the fact that the family lives in a

suburban town .

C1: Evidence: ​The text states “Race has divided American society and politics from the

beginning.” (Griffin, David, Newman, and Brian)

D1: Analysis: ​This refers to the boundary within suburban society regarding minorities.

E1: Evaluation: ​People of color that watch this may be turned off immediately as soon as

they see a suburban white family due to the non inclusiveness.

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Privileged and Condescending Tone

A: T.S.​- Bounty’s commercial can convey a privileged and condescending tone towards

people of color.

B: Transition: ​White privilege is an issue that can be hinted at in this commercial.

C: Evidence: ​In an article titled “Melanin, White Privilege and the Damage Wrought By

the Lie” describes white privilege as “It is part of a social system designed to allocate

power and privilege based on identifying people as "the other" or different, most typically

by the presence of melanin in their skin.” (Brenda Lett)

D: Analysis: ​People of color might see this advertisement and notice that the family is

white in a nice household eating dinner together making them think to themselves that this

family gets to experience this because of their privilege.

E: Evaluation: ​This will cause the audience that are people of color to lose interest in

buying the product.

B1: Transition: ​Another issue that could be brought up is the condescending tone.

C1: Evidence: “​Critical Theory Today: a user friendly guide” states “​Institutionalized

racism ​refers to the incorporation of racist policies and practices in the institutions by

which a society operates.” (Lois Tyson)

D1: Analysis: ​Today's society has been trained to assume that the common suburban

lifestyle is lived by a white family.

E1: Evaluation: ​This idea is condescending towards people of color because it belittles

them which allows them to relate this feeling to Bounty Paper Towels.
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