The Use of Rhetoric in “Can I Borrow Some Socks” by: ESPN
In a SportsCenter commercial by ESPN, one of the most well known anchors of the show, Scott Van Pelt, is shown dripping from head to toe and gives a borrowed headband back to famous basketball player, Carmello Anthony, who is proclaims “It’s soaked,” to which Van Pelt replies that it was a tough show. When Van Pelt then asks to borrow a pair of socks Anthony makes up an excuse and says that he does not have any. This commercial is specifically targeted to a sports audience with a good sense of humor, and uses the context of the scene to appeal to their audience using Logos, and Pathos. The purpose of the commercial is to instill a relationship with its audience that the Sportscenter anchors know what they are talking about by implying that they work and associate with famous players everyday in the office. Sportscenter believes that if they are able to create a relationship with their audience that will make the audience more comfortable and trusting towards the program in general. They are building themselves up to be experts in the field of sports so that their audience will trust them over any regular sports program. The ultimate purpose of the Sportscenter commercial by ESPN is to appeal to the audience's emotions by creating a playful joke, and using a respected basketball player who carries a positive connotation, but at the same time appeal to the audience using Logos by proving that they are worthy of much respect in their field of knowledge because they associate with famous athletes in their office every day.
ESPN is able to appeal to the audience’s emotions by creating comic relief. This is an extremely underestimated tactic when it comes to analyzing rhetoric in television commercials. By throwing in a little bit of humor the commercial is able to put the audience in a position of relaxation. ESPN is able to establish a relationship with the audience that they are ordinary. They are able to appeal to the common person who does not take life too seriously. By creating this relationship ESPN is able to appeal to people’s emotions using Pathos. The pathos in the commercial are able to break the ice, and right off the bat the audience is more accepting to the endorsed product, which is in this case the show SportsCenter. Whether the audience knows it or not, the commercial is able to break the barrier of skepticism and judgment that plagues so many other commercials. Without the comic relief the audience can be left to write the commercial off, as another scam, or worthless product, produced by someone so far from reality, that they do not know what the people want. Using the joke in the commercial allows ESPN to directly relate to an audience that wants to be entertained. The people who are watching ESPN are not looking to be politically informed about their next president, they are not looking to find out the weather for the next day, and they certainly are not wrapped up in a sappy soap opera. The audience of ESPN is a predominantly male one, of guys all over the country who are looking to be entertained. One of the reasons ESPN has become so successful is its ability to keep in touch, and keep a relationship with its audience, who identifies the station as a witty relaxed program that knows what its people want, and with the use of Pathos in this commercial the television station is able to keep that close relationship with its viewers.
Another way that ESPN is able to directly target its viewers is by using star appeal in the form of young NBA superstar, Carmello Anthony. Carmello Anthony makes over $14,000,000 dollars a year, has made almost 300 three point shots in his career, and averages 24.2 points a game (ESPN.com). Carmello Anthony has been to All-Star games, has won the college basketball national title, and was the third pick overall in the 2003 NBA draft, as a lottery choice to the Denver Nuggets. This twenty-four year old up and coming phenomenon is someone that people are amazed by, and baffled by. So when ESPN is able to harness that interest and show Anthony in their commercial it grabs the audience’s attention. People are excited to see such a famous athlete, with such physical presence which demands enormous amount of attention from all sports fans. So when Carmello Anthony talks, the audience listens. There is no better way to grab a sports fanatic’s attention then to throw someone as widely known, and who carries as much fame as Carmello Anthony, who led his team in points in his first season in the NBA. The association that Carmello carries also entices a younger audience to buy into the fact that SportsCenter is a new age show that is innovative, even though the show has been around for a few decades. The star appeal that Carmello Anthony brings to the table in this commercial uses Pathos to use the audiences emotions to force them to think compulsively and even if they do not notice the audience is buying into the fact, in the back of their head, that since Carmello Anthony associates with these men then the show they are producing must be worth watching.
ESPN also uses Ethos in their commercial to make it seem only decent that they be trusted to bring the people the sports coverage that they want and need. ESPN assumes that they are the only one that should have that certain responsibility because only the best sports anchors, the ones that hang out with professional athletes day in and day out, should be instilled with the reliance of all sports lovers across the nation
The last thing that ESPN does to try to sway the audience in their favor is to utilize the use of Logos to make it seem rational, that their show “SportsCenter” is the best fit to suit their sports viewing needs. With the association of Carmello Anthony, and the fact that Scott Van Pelt, is getting ready to go “out back” and play basketball, ESPN is trying to sway the audience to think that their entire lives are engulfed in the world of sports. In fact ESPN often claims that they are “The World Wide Leader in Sports” a phrase that, when you really dissect it means nothing at all. But the association that they have with world renowned athletes in their series of commercials, has become famous, and it is a Logo that they use to play with people’s sense of reason, and they are able to achieve a sense of logical approach to being the best in sports, because they hang out with athletes like Manny Ramirez, Chris Paul, and Roger Federer, every day at their place of work. So not only do they work on researching sports all day, but the people who are the best at the sports that they cover, call the studios of ESPN and SportsCenter, their home.
In a SportsCenter commercial by ESPN, one of the most well known anchors of the show, Scott Van Pelt, is shown dripping from head to toe and gives a borrowed headband back to famous basketball player, Carmello Anthony, who is proclaims “It’s soaked,” to which Van Pelt replies that it was a tough show. When Van Pelt then asks to borrow a pair of socks Anthony makes up an excuse and says that he does not have any. This commercial is specifically targeted to a sports audience with a good sense of humor, and uses the context of the scene to appeal to their audience using Logos, and Pathos. The purpose of the commercial is to instill a relationship with its audience that the Sportscenter anchors know what they are talking about by implying that they work and associate with famous players everyday in the office. Sportscenter believes that if they are able to create a relationship with their audience that will make the audience more comfortable and trusting towards the program in general. They are building themselves up to be experts in the field of sports so that their audience will trust them over any regular sports program. The ultimate purpose of the Sportscenter commercial by ESPN is to appeal to the audience's emotions by creating a playful joke, and using a respected basketball player who carries a positive connotation, but at the same time appeal to the audience using Logos by proving that they are worthy of much respect in their field of knowledge because they associate with famous athletes in their office every day. Logos, Pathos, and Ethos are effectively used throughout the commercial to achieve a full effect of logic, emotional attachment, and a certain “back of the head” trust with their audience. The biggest thing that ESPN is able to do in their series of SportsCenter commercials is to know their audience and target them correctly using a distinct purpose and method of persuasion, which is why they are able to so effectively be “The World Wide Leader in Sports”.
Works Cited
ESPN.com http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=1975&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fplayers%2fhollinger%3fplayerId%3d1975
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