http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnum2n1Z-kw
This video is a anti-drug commercial that founded in youtube. In the video, a drug user uses many flashbacks to tell the viewers about the reason why he began to use drugs. Unlike other commercials just telling people about the harm of drugs,this video focus on the reasons that lead people to use drugs. What rhetorical ways did the creator use to persuade viewers? Are they effective? Why did the creator say “drugs..the biggest lie ever”?
I am responding with Prompt 2. Most comments on this video are discussing how powerful this ad is and how effective it was. One person commented about how they agree with the ad simply because it does not reference marijuana. Another person responded and said that the ad was powerful to them because it did not really reference any specific drug, just the life and outcome of a drug addict in general. This was not necessarily a disagreement, but more of a discussion of rhetoric between two commentors. Both thought that the lack of reference to a specific drug made it more powerful. This seems to be a very common opinion amongst the comments and I also share their opinions for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteI am responding to this video using prompt 7. This video is very powerful by, as Zicong said, giving the causes that lead the man in the video into doing drugs instead of showing a series of consequences resulted from doing drugs. The main goal of the video is not to warn the audience about how dreadful drugs could be, but to also inform the audience is that drugs itself do not, or cannot, make people from using it, but the factors the lead (most) people into using drugs. The use of flashback, of how the man wanted to be loved by his mother, but received the opposite, how he wanted to fit in as a kid, but was isolated, how he wanted to be liked in school, but was rejected, shows the loneliness that the man feels throughout his life. Then the man mentions that "The guys in the corner make me feel nice and accepted." Probably he was not talking about the men, but the powder and the shots that actually make him feel satisfied and loved, as though he finally found a friend who cares and gives him attention. However it was all of a big lie. The attention quickly turns to misdirection, the caring turns to sufferings that have no way of turning back. The creator wants the audience to know his intentions by showing that loneliness and isolation could easily drive anyone into drugs, and he successfully carried out these messages. Many of the comments express their sympathy for the man, and how they could stop these incidents from happening: By not pushing the people around them into “the corner”.
ReplyDeletePrompt 1: The images shown in the flashbacks really help set the mood of the video. The images of the young boy being yelled at my his mother, being bullied at school, and simply being ignored make the audience feel bad for the boy and want to help (strong pathos). The story then shows a group of boys his age smiling and bumping fists with him. We think everything is okay, but then we discover that they do drugs and the young boy does them as well to fit in. This is upsetting to the audience and the ad continues to use pathos to keep the attention of the audience (which is smart since the video is over 2 minutes long). The story takes a turn for the worse when the young boy, now a man, is shown taking drugs, passing out, and then dying in an ambulance (slowing and stopping of heartbeat on EKG). For me, this was horrifying and tragic. The boys who the man thought were his friends that loved him and took care of him were a lie. The drugs gave the man the illusion that they loved him, but in reality, they didn't. If they had really been his friends, they would have done something to help, like call 9/11, when he passed out. This video is really effective in showing that drugs can create the false illusion of friendship and love, but in the end, all they cause is harm. The strong pathos used in the ad really has a huge part in the effectiveness of the video. This video really pulled on my heartstrings...
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Leah that these images shown in the flashbacks really show us the background of the reason this man began to be addicted to drugs. And personally, this is the best anti-drug ad I have ever seen. This ad really moved me. The whole ad is like a story and the man, as a storyteller, explained his reason. He just wanted to be loved, but no one cared about him. In the end of this ad, there was a voice which told us, drugs are the biggest lier ever. To response to this sentence, drugs seemed to help the man to find some friends in real, however, these "friends" are not true friends at all, and the only thing they cared about is joy and drugs. That is to say, drugs are not good tools to make friends, and instead, drugs could be the most evil things ever..
ReplyDeleteThis ad definitely uses pathos to appeal to the audience, it wants to sympathize for the man. I am replying to Zicong's last question. The voice over says that drugs are the "biggest lie ever" because when the man was alone and wanted to be loved, he turned to the wrong crowd for this fulfillment. These people encouraged him to do drugs and apparently befriended him. They gave him attention and made him feel accepted. However, drugs do the opposite. His "friends" eventually left him all alone again and addicted to drugs. This made his life worse than before and this time he was lost and had no friends. The man sought drugs to dig him out of the hole that he felt like he was in, when in fact the drugs dug him deeper into a perpetual hole.
ReplyDeletePrompt 7: In order to persuade viewers, the author uses shock value to try to scare potential users.There are clips of the man in a ambulance, which is used to show how dangerous drugs can be. By using a real name and having the man explain his story, the story seems more plausible. By making the story more real, the audience is more likely to have sympathy towards the man, which may make the audience think about the consequences of drugs. The video also shows the man in a seemingly nice home, which is used to try to prevent middle class viewers or other people who can relate to living in a nice home from using drugs. Another thing the video tries to do is speak to parents and friends of potential users. By showing how the man's addiction started at a young age, the author is telling parents and peers to look out for "neglected" children and make them feel loved so that they do not fall into the trap of drugs.
ReplyDeleteI think this ad was very effective because it can relate to pretty much every adolescent. At some point in our lives we want to feel accepted among our peers, so we take into peer pressure to do so. It can be different things like girls doing their makeup, wearing the latest trends and watching the Kardashian's to fit into a certain group. Or guys playing and watching sports and lifting weights (i'm not completely sure what guys do it's confusing). But for some it takes much more than these things. It seems he tried everything and did not feel accepted by anybody, and it was even worse in this mans case because he did not even feel loved by his own mother. So he searched from group to group until he found the one that would accept him, the burnouts. From there I am guessing the use of drugs temporarily filled the empty void in his heart, until he obviously ended up in a hospital dying. I think he says "Drugs...the biggest lie ever" because he went into it thinking he would come out with friends and acceptance, but ultimately ended alone just like he started.
ReplyDeleteI'm responding this ad using prompt 7. This ad us flashbacks to show the reasons why he take drugs rather than the bad effect after taking drugs. The man in the movie want to be loved since he is a kid, from his family and school. But he is isolated by others. He just need friends but he have no friends. Then he find a friend, that is the drug. Just as the title of the ad, that is a big lie. Also, the ad use the man's real story, the scene moves from the man in the ambulance to his memory. The real story would be more convincing than the normal ad which is just the scientific statistics to show the harm of taking drugs. Also, people would be more likely to be touched by this ad.
ReplyDelete