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Jordan Tan-say

Professor Granillo

English 103

27 February 2019

Should We “Say the Word”?

Sitting in front of the TV during the 2019 Super Bowl and the big game cuts to a one-

and-a-half-minute commercial of the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Normally, this is the time

that everyone in the party starts to refill on their snacks, but how good of a job do these

commercials do in actually getting people to buy their product? In every commercial, including

this Mercedes-Benz A-Class commercial, they each focus on one or more appeals from the

rhetorical triangle: pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (ethical appeal), and logos (logical appeal).

The Mercedes-Benz commercial “Say the Word” claims that owning their new 2019 A-Class

provides the ability to have control over life, but the company fails to provide any substantial

evidence to actually prove this point. Mercedes-Benz’s overuse of ethos and pathos leaves no

time for logos and creates a faulty causality fallacy of the car’s capabilities and benefits with

leading a perfect lifestyle; thus “Say the Word” serves as a reminder to Americans all over the

world that the amount of material objects owned does not equate to success in life.

This commercial is about a good-looking, nameless man who has the ability to control

everything with his speech. He starts off with simple tasks that could be explained with simple

coincidences and then turns into impossible changes filled with famous cameos and hilarious

outcomes. The commercial starts with the main character watching a live game of golf and

correctly predicting when the golfer made the putt (“Say the Word” 0:00-0:05). Later in the

commercial, the situations include the main character involved in an opera singer turning into the
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rapper Ludacris (“Say the Word” 0:23-0:30) or Wile E. Coyote crashing through a wall (“Say the

Word” 0:33-0:38). It is later understood that this is an exaggerated view of what the new

Mercedes-Benz 2019 A-Class car can do. Through these actions, the commercial targets the

middle and high income workers watching Super Bowl LIII (as this commercial is an exclusive

to that event) who are currently deciding on what car to buy or are thinking of buying in the

future. Some people who watch this advertisement might be inclined to want to buy this car after

hearing about its luxurious features and price (“Say the Word” 0:46-0:55). The director of the

commercial assumes that the viewer is wealthy enough to buy their car. This is done by taking

on the point of view of an average middle-high income man who goes about an average day.

Some subtle hints that showcases this man’s wealth come from what he wears (“Say the Word”

0:25) or where he lives (“Say the Word” 0:36). The man’s income level is around the minimum

that the director assumes the viewers who buy this A-Class car is going to be.

Even if the average viewer does not have enough money or desire to buy the new A-

Class, the commercial does a great job integrating the question of whether or not the viewers

want a new car. The commercial only explains the worth of the A-Class and doesn’t mention

how the other cars are any worse or different. In the small portion closer to the end of the

advertisement, the speaker goes through the new voice feature in the car (“Say the Word” 0:46-

0:52). With this little segment, viewers of the commercial now seemed informed of how

amazing the new A-Class is. The problem, however, stems from the fact that the commercial

only has that one segment of praise towards the A-Class and doesn’t mention how other car

brands are any better or worse. In order to instil the feeling of urgency in having people buy this

car, the commercial garners attention through its appeal to ethos which the director uses to
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address the values of the middle class and implement the idea that the Mercedes-Benz A-Class is

the gateway to becoming part of the top one percent in income level.

An appeal to ethos is visually seen throughout the beginning half of the commercial

through how the main character looks, dresses, and acts. Within the commercial, he wears a few

different outfits that range from a simple, clean t-shirt to an expensive-looking tuxedo at an opera

play (“Say the Word” 0:25). By wearing certain outfits and the natural good looks that the actor

provides, he holds the impression that he has his life in order and that the car at the end of the

commercial is the cause of this all. The commercial uses visual ethos to help create the message

that the car is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.

The commercial also exudes the importance of ethos when the speaker explicitly states

how important this car is to own. The usage of ethos is largely explained through the main

assumption made throughout the commercial that people have the desire to control life (“Say the

Word” 0:42-0:46). It is as if owning the A-Class satisfy the desire to rule the world and control

everything. The use of ethos is what signals who the advertisement is directed towards. This

commercial is to make the average middle class viewer who does not have all the money to

spend on luxury want to feel like they belong to the high class who have the ability to make life

listen to them.

The next important appeal to focus on is the A-Class’s appeal towards pathos. This

commercial helps evoke laughter and a sense of wonder towards the new A-Class. With the

amount of humorous events that occur in the commercial, the viewers do not become bored with

the advertisement. The appeal to pathos is used throughout the commercial from the ripping of a

parking ticket to the freeing of Willy from the movie Free Willy (“Say the Word” 0:10-0:42).

These hilarious, unreal events that occur are to serve the purpose of garnering attention away
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from the actual car so when the car is fully introduced, there is a grand entrance that precedes.

The usage of pathos is what allows for the connection between the commercial and the audience

to take place allowing for an easier time selling the car to the viewer even before the car has been

shown on screen.

The last appeal that has completely been thrown out the window for this commercial is its

appeal towards logos. There is barely any logic or sense within this commercial whatsoever.

The only form of the appeal is used during the use of the car’s voice function and the listing of

the price of the car at the end of the commercial (“Say the Word” 0:46-0:55). Throughout the

entire advertisement, each event are exaggerations meant to create laughs due to how crazy of a

situation they become. The absurdity of money flying out of atms or Ludacris rapping in a fancy

opera house (“Say the Word” 0:19-0:30) in order to create laughs distracts from the lack of

information that the commercial actually provides the viewer. With logical thinking, it can be

understood, with minimal effort, that what actually constitutes the success of this man’s life is

not the car, but the main character himself of being how he is. The car only serves as a way to

act as closely as possible to the main character who serves as the perfect representation of how

every person wants to be: good-looking, successful, and in control.

This leads to the point that this commercial falls under a huge logical fallacy called the

faulty causality fallacy. The commercial gives the assumption that this perfect man is so perfect

because of the car that he drives. This allows the viewers to also believe that if they own the A-

Class, they will become as flawless as that man in the commercial. In the statement, “If only

everything listened to you like your new A-Class” (“Say the Word” 0:42-0:46), the comparison

between life and owning the new A-Class has nothing to do with each other nor does the new A-

Class allow every decision in life to go the owner’s way.

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For this Mercedes-Benz commercial specifically, viewers need to be reminded that

material objects do not directly correlate with how successful the person is. Through the

understanding of how the commercial manipulates with the message through values, music,

looks, and famous figures, people can find out the strengths and weaknesses that each

commercial uses to their advantage to reel the viewer into buying the company’s product. With

this Mercedes-Benz commercial as a general example, people are reminded that they should

analyze advertisements thoroughly enough to see if their product is actually as great as they

dramatize them in their marketing medium.

Works Cited

Mercedes-Benz. “Say the Word.” Youtube, Mercedes-Benz, 30 Jan. 2019,

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=R84j8pmH-d0.