Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Childhood Obesity
Marissa A. Ramos
University of Texas at El Paso
Ms. Andrea Castillo
RWS 1302: Rhetoric and Composition II

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

For the past several years the rise of obesity and childhood obesity has taken a
new high. There are many groups that have found it necessary to make the public aware
of these shocking statistics and how it is affecting our nations youth. It is hoped that if
the information about this issue is spread then society can help stop this issue through the
empowerment of knowledge. There are two genres that have helped to create awareness
for this topic. The first genre that is spreading awareness of this topic is a commercial
entitled Rewind the Future by the organization Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta. This
genre shows that society needs to rewind time and start healthy lifestyles with its children
in order to combat this rising epidemic. The second genre takes the shape of an
advertisement, which was created by students at The Academy of Art University with the
intent of spreading the word that the eating habits in America is taking the toll for the
worst. The message of these two genres and how they relate to the main issue will be
further discussed throughout the entirety of this analysis.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre, Rewind the Future created by The Childrens Healthcare of
Atlanta is a commercial that was published on September 18th, 2013. The purpose of this
advertisement was to inform the audience of all the harm that a child with a lifetime of
bad decisions that leads to a bad lifestyle could do. The second genre, which is an
advertisement created by some students who attend The Academy of Art University was
published in a magazine on May 24th, 2011. The purpose of this advertisement was to
inform the audience and compare it to very well known things that can cause harm to an
individuals health such as cigarettes, which is shown in the advertisement. The intended
audience for The Childrens Healthcare of Atlantas commercial was parents, but it could

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

also be open to anyone who might identify himself or herself with having horrible health
habits as portrayed in the commercial. This organization recognizes the fact that lifestyle
choices and habits start in young children and that these habits develop from the habits
that their parents have or that they allow their children to have from a young age. The
intended audience for the advertisement created by The Academy of Art University was
people of all ages that understand the health risks that cigarettes can cause. The students
from this University used the knowledge of how harmful cigarettes are and compared
their effects to that of fast food and poor food in general. They put the idea of poor eating
into perspective by saying that it is becoming just as harmful to consume French fries on
a regular basis, as it is to smoke cigarettes.
Both of these genres may have some limitations when it comes to spreading their
message. These limitations may occur when it comes to how much time the audience
might spend devoting their attention to them. The first genre is that of a television
commercial. The audience that might get exposed to this commercial will devote about
two to three minutes of their attention to watching this segment on the television. The
Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta had to create a commercial that would convey their
message in a manner of their choosing in the time allotted. The second genre is an
advertisement that was published within a magazine. The time that an audience might
spend on this genre would probably be about a minute or less. The students at The
Academy of Art University had to be very clear with their message in order to convey it
to their intended audience in such a short time frame. These two genres differed in the
fact that the commercial had about two extra minutes that they could use to appropriately

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

spread their message as opposed to the one minute or less the advertisement had in the
magazine.
Both of these genres goals were to spread the message of the rise in childhood
obesity that is gravely affecting our nations youth. The advertisement had to strategize a
message that could be completely conveyed in just a single photo. The television
commercial had fewer limitations because they could use moving pictures, a voice
overlay, and some music that could be used to appeal to the audience. Even though these
two genres worked to spread awareness about the same issue at hand they both had
different ways of communicating it to the audience, therefore, their language was
different. The commercial uses informal words in order to connect with the intended
audience. The words used during these segment are words such as, reverse, unhealthy,
and into adulthood. The commercial uses its language during part of the segment to
speak to the audience and encourage them to start healthy habits with their children. The
advertisement does not use very much language, but when it does, it is very clear and
concise in order to spread its message. The only piece of language on the advertisement
reads as follows, The obesity death rate is overtaking cigarette smoking. The language
used here is one that compares obesity to chronic cigarette smoking which puts it into
perspective to show just how harmful it is.
Rhetorical Issues
Both of the genres that have been introduced today have made use of the
rhetorical triangle in order to appeal to the audience.
Ethos

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

In the television commercial, a young adult is shown being wheeled into an

emergency room because he was suffering from a heart attack. The commercial then
proceeds to show quick flashback of all the bad habits that would take place in that mans
life all the way until childhood that led to his illness. This genre establishes credibility by
showing the many moments and bad decisions made that have all accumulated and led up
to this life-endangering moment. In the advertisement, there is a picture of an open
cigarette carton, but instead of cigarettes inside, there are French fries. This genre proves
its credibility by stating a statistic, which is that obesity is overtaking cigarette smoking
when it comes to the number of fatalities it causes.
Pathos
In the first genre, they appeal to the emotions of the audience by showing this
horrible event that is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, then directly speaks to the
audience by saying, Your childs future does not have to look like this. The commercial
shows these horrible events in order to appeal to the audience and persuade them to
prevent their children from developing these horrible eating and exercise habits so they
can remain healthy. The second genre uses the audiences previous knowledge of all the
deaths that cigarettes have caused and compared that to obesity. This appeals to the
audiences emotions by putting it into a point of view that can resonate with them and
show them how harmful it is.
Logos
The first genre uses logos by showing step-by-step actions that, when done
throughout a lifetime, can lead to serious health problems such as a heart attack. It also
uses the logic that if you maintain a healthy lifestyle starting from a young age you can

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

help prevent moments like this for your child. The second genre uses a statistic as its
evidence when trying to appeal to the intended audience. It states that fatalities related to
cigarettes are being overtaken by fatalities related to obesity.
Structure and Delivery
The way that both of these genres delivered their message differed simply because
their limitations were different. The first genre portrayed a very serious medical issue,
and then showed all the events that lead to it, which served to potentially have a great
impact on the intended audience. The second genre showed a very well known cause of
death in America and compared it to obesity. The tactic of using an issue that is very
familiar in order to compare it to the severity of obesity was a clever way of capturing the
audiences attention.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both of these genres executed their way of spreading the same
message very well. They both made use of the rhetorical triangle in order to appeal to
their intended audiences. However, the first genre, which was the commercial, seemed to
have a stronger prevalence of the three rhetorical appeals as compared to the
advertisement.

Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY

References
Atlanta, C.H. (2013). Retrieved from Strong4life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUmp67DIHY
University, T.A. (2011). Childhood Obesity Prevention. Retrieved from Behance:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/Childhood-Obesity-Prevention/1496526