3. Find an advertisement that’s uses an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?
-Ad URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs
~The advertisement I choose that shows appeal to fear is a drug advertisement from the late eighties and early nineties showing an egg frying in a frying pan to demonstrate what your brain looks like on drugs. This advertisement is not a good argument. There is no evidence to show that your brain looks like a fried egg when you do drugs. This advertisement is meant to scare viewers into not wanting to try drugs because of the horrible effects it has on your brain. The feeling of fear is invoked through this commercial because any damage to your brain is very scary, even though the commercial over exaggerates the damaged cause by drugs. This commercial is not showing any logic to prove there point. How much drugs make your brain fry? Which drugs make your brain fry? The advertisement is making a general statement about drugs that has no support.
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I liked your post very much. I think your example perfectly portrays the use of appeal to fear. In this ad, the argument has absolutely nothing to do with what is being shown. The company is using scary imagery in order to prove a point. They want people to believe that this is what happens when someone does drugs, and despite the fact that drugs do brain damage, the clip shown is irrelevant. This video also cleverly chooses an almost everyday activity for some people as an example of a brain, and their goal might have been to not only show the clip, but also reinforce the imagery into peoples minds for when they next fry an egg.
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