At the beginning of this semester, I was introduced to the term “rhetoric”. I made an attempt to convey my perception through a bounty commercial. Now that my understanding of rhetoric has matured, I am going to give it another shot.

Commercials serve as good examples of rhetoric. First comes the hook, second the need is established, then a solution (usually the product being advertised) is introduced to satisfy the need, the viewers (audience) are compelled to to see him/herself using the product and then the viewers are called to action.

With all of this understood, I put Ice T’s “GEICO” commercial to the test. The hook: The famous rapper Ice T at a lemonade stand. The need is established when all of the potential customers are surprised when they find out that lemonade is being sold by Ice T. The solution is to buy GEICO-It’s not surprising. The viewers are called to action when Marion holds up a sign that shows how much money she saved using GEICO. I can’t quite pinpoint where in the commercial the audience is prompted to visualize the need for GEICO. Do all of the elements have to be presented in order for the commercial to be effective? What do you think?