preview

Rhetorical Analysis Of Popchips

Decent Essays

Popchips
When coming across a food advertisement, what is the first thing that makes you want to buy it? Is it the packaging of the product? Is it how delicious the food looks? Or is it the celebrity endorsement? Every company uses a combination of rhetorical strategies, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to attract their customers. Popchips, for example, is a healthier, lighter version of potato chips. Instead of fried or baked, they are heated in a pressurized chamber and then quickly released, which makes them “pop”; hence the name. There are many different flavors of Popchips available and each of them has their own advertisement. All of the ads have one thing in common; the endorser, Popstar, Katy Perry. She automatically has fans grabbing bags off the shelves as quickly as they are stocked. The particular ad we are reviewing is the barbeque flavor. At first glance, we see large, lower-case words that say “love. without the handles.” Then, our eyes move towards the middle and we see thin, fit Katy Perry holding two bags of Popchips as if she were lifting dumbbells. Looking down in the left corner is the Popchips slogan, “think popped! never fried. never baked.” While pathos and logos both play a role in this Popchips ad, ethos is really what grabs the attention of most buyers.
In 2012, after famed Ashton Kutcher’s Popchips ads were pulled and deemed as racist, Katy Perry became the new face of the company. She is a young, hip woman who appeals to people of all ages. Fans of her music, the younger generation, anyone who is counting calories or concerned about the ingredients going into their food, and anyone who loves potato chips, are amongst the variety of consumers. This ad uses four bold colors; red, purple, black, and white. The red background is complementary to the purple workout ball, purple headband, and the purple highlights in Ms. Perry’s ponytail. She is wearing black workout leggings and a white with black polka-dotted sports bra. Red is energetic and exciting, powerful, and bold. Purple associates with royalty which creates an impression of value. Black denotes strength and authority. White symbolizes purity and goodness. Together, these four colors are powerful.
Pathos plays the smallest

Get Access