The product I picked for this journal entry /analysis is the "My Pillow". It was an infomercial a while back which I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple of times. It uses an appeal to pathos with its guarantee to be "the most comfortable pillow you'll ever own", and infers feelings of comfort and coziness- especially from how the man holds the pillow in his hands. An appeal to authority is shown through the inventor on the front holding it. It's saying that if the inventor himself uses it and isn't just trying to make some cash then it must be a pretty great product. Another logical fallacy I saw was the genetic fallacy. The ad has a "made in the USA" tag in the bottom right corner, which attempts to validate the product by showing the source of its production. The product is made by My Pillow Inc., which is based in Minnesota. They seem to be targeting people who have had uncomfortable sleeping experiences or just don't want to pay for Tempur- Pedic pillows- we know this because the box promises the buyer that the My Pillow will be the most comfortable pillow they've had, and also because the My Pillow is inexpensive yet assures extreme comfort a la higher-price products. The subtext of this product is that only people who buy the pillow will experience comfort to its limit. The part of the story that isn't told is that of all the other people who have tried sleeping on other brands of special pillows. This ad doesn't empower or disempower a certain group of people, which you can tell immediately after looking at it. Look at the benevolent, well-meaning man with his pillow. No aggressive marketing strategies, no statistics. Just a man and his pillow.
I cannot see the photo.
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