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Speech outline

Intro:
   *Talk about trend in commercials
     -Relying more on humor/absurdity then the past
     -Has to catch the watchers attention
   *Commercials distract us with humor to not think about marketing stratigies
   *Crowd participation:
     -What commercials made this trend so popular?
     -Old Spice; extremely memorable because of its absurd content
   *Watch the commercial
   *Thesis: This particular Old Spice commercial goes by the same principle; it uses humor and absurdity to hide more subtle marketing strategies like ethos building meta-criticism and specified pathos

 First Focus: Use of Absurdity
   *Several uses of absurd visuals
     -Flying Bear
     -Octopus
     -Young Man Dancing
   *Act as a hook
     -Goes against our preconceptions of commercials
     -Intrigues us, draws our focus and attention
   *Acts as a blanket
     -Absurd visuals before and after the important information
     -Draws our focus so much that we almost don't notice the blatant marketing.

 Second Focus: Meta-Criticism
   *The authors our extremely aware of the shift in commercial trends
   *They are self aware of their own strategies
     -Point out their own over the top visuals
     -Use purposefully blatant selling to mock others
     -However, is a use of verbal irony, and does still shamelessly advertise the products.
   *This clever self awareness actually builds both logos and ethos, as it's unique presentation both makes the authors appear quite knowledgeable about their product and the market, as well as laying out the facts about the product and why we should buy it.

Third Focus: Shift of Audience
   *Old Spice typically targets young men
     -"The things brands do to advertise to boys."
     -Young man dancing, having fun
   *However, it's characters are two moms
     -Another large demographic of buyers
   *Builds Pathos for mothers; directly shifts audience
     -Subtle messages, 'be the best mom,' and 'the best mom is me.'
   *Capitalizes on this
     -Depiction of the mothers as happy and wearing wealthy clothes
     -Word choice; described as responsible.
   *The small choices like character selection, word choice, and subtle messages all help to build pathos for its intended audience, mothers.

Effectiveness: Good
   *Absurdity draws our attention extremely effectively on the first watch
   *Meta-Analysis is very clever on further analysis, yet passes as more humor despite its subtle effects
   *The slant to the audience is very obvious, yet because of its mocking tone it isn't seen as cheesy or over the top. Allows them to put in subtle messages without us noticing.

Conclusion:
   *The uses of absurdity, meta-analysis, and audience focus allows the commercial to vale their creation of ethos, logos, and pathos, in an appearance of comedy, making it very effective at selling its product in a fun and unique method.

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