Meghan Jennings October 11, 2012 CAS 137S Rhetorical Analysis of Anti- Smoking Advertisement

Did you know that almost 20% of adults in the United States smoke cigarettes? Its the number one cause of death that is easily preventable. Anti-smoking advertisements occasionally pop up throughout our society, often showing the harmful effects of tobacco through graphic pictures or other startling images. The advertisement I chose is a black and white picture, showing a young man smoking a cigarette, with the smoke from it forming a gun pointed at his head. Off to the side appear the words, Kill a cigarette, save a life. Yours. The advertisement utilizes the three rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos through its image and implied meanings. Through this, the image is able to convey a vivid sense of danger and promote awareness of the deadliness of smoking. The image was created to evoke a response from its audience, which are both smokers and non-smokers alike. In the non-smoking audience, the image will either increase their distaste of smoking and its negative health effects, or they will be unconcerned because it has little or no effect on them or their lives. The audience it would appeal most to is the people who vehemently oppose cigarettes and smoking. People like this may believe that anti-smoking ads will reach smokers and somehow convince them to quit, but this is probably not the case. To smokers, the image will be a reminder of the harm they are doing to their bodies. But for the most part, they will likely be indifferent to the image because they already know its bad for their health, and will continue to smoke

because they are either addicted or are just apathetic to the situation. They may even find ads such as this obnoxious and unoriginal because they feel as if its repetitive and a personal attack on them and their views and habits. Because smoking is seen as such a bad thing in U.S. society, they may detach themselves from advertisements that contradict what they believe is okay. The first rhetorical appeal, logos, is used in this image. The major premise is that smoking is bad for your health. In many modern-day countries, this is general knowledge. Almost any person, when asked, would say the same. This is especially true in Northern American culture, as smoking is generally seen as damaging and negative, unlike in past decades, where smoking was accepted and even encouraged throughout society. The minor premise is that smoking is equivalent to pointing a gun at oneself. This is shown by the smoke from the cigarette forming a handgun at the young mans head. From the general knowledge of the harm cigarettes do and the image of the gun, we can infer that the claim the images creator is making is that smoking is suicidal. This claim is enhanced by the words on the image Kill a cigarette, save a life. Yours, which encourages people that smoke to put out their cigarettes. This is implying that if smokers continue to pollute their lungs, its the same as if they pulled an invisible trigger on themselves. The second rhetorical appeal, ethos, also has an effect on the images message. The creator of the image, Kelly Ashcraft, isnt a prominent photographer in society and is probably known only by friends, close networks, and people on the internet who happen upon her work. However, the audience is able to conclude several things about her character and credibility through this image. The audience can infer that Ashcraft is trying to encourage a healthy lifestyle in viewers because of her decision to create an anti-

smoking image. However, with sinister smoking images such as hers, it often paints the creator as thinking negatively of smokers as people, not just the smoking aspect of their lives. At least, to smokers this seems to be the case. Non-smokers who oppose cigarette use will connect most strongly with this image because they and Ashcraft are of similar mindsets about this particular issue. They, perhaps, will find her work more believable than smokers because they agree more fervently with the message. Because Ashcraft isnt well known, it is difficult to completely know how credible she is, but what helps is that her work is original and creative. Her attitude towards smoking parallels modern-day Americas view towards smoking: it is incredibly harmful to a persons health, can result in death, and it also conveys a subtle negative view that looks down upon people who smoke cigarettes. Because Ashcraft and the U.S. look down on smokers because its considered bad nowadays, she loses some credibility because the image does seem very negative and one-sided, and seems like its scolding smokers rather than trying to help them. The words on the side dont contribute to the image that much, and therefore dont significantly help Ashcraft. The words might have been more effective had she moved the Yours down and below the preceding line. However, without any words, the image would not be as moving. The last rhetorical appeal, pathos, also comes into play in the advertisement. The black and white of the image creates a definitive yes or no situation by implying that the decision to smoke or not is a life or death decision. The young man is staring straight into the camera with a neutral expression on his face, which makes the image and thought of death more personal to the viewer. The smoke that is forming the gun appeals to the emotions in several ways. It immediately grabs the audiences attention, since guns are not only dangerous, but a controversial topic in American culture. The smoke gun is also

suggestive of suicide. Its saying that if someone smokes, they might as well be pointing a gun at their own head. This causes the viewer to be taken aback because the young man is clearly going to be the cause of his own death. Suicides are tragic occurrences, but also a hot topic in pop culture: the audience feels a dark but intriguing sense when the mention of someone ending their own life is brought up. This image of the man with the cigarette smoke gun pointed at his head employs the use of ethos, logos, and pathos through its coloring and controversial message. Though weakened by its prejudice and ineffectual placement of words, the simple message that smoking is hazardous to ones health still proves its point in Ashcrafts image. Smoking is very prevalent throughout the world, but so are anti-smoking advertisements. This disagreement of ideologies is the fuel to the never-ending battle between smokers and the media.