Assessment One: God Made a Farmer

1.    

Within this add we can see the ethics that are presented to us as wholesome things that we already tend to hold near and dear to our hearts. However, I feel that they are taking the “good” values we all hold due to our culture and manipulating them to work in their favor. This is, in my opinion, is completely unethical, for it plays on our weaknesses. Due to our cultural upbringings and the things that were pounded into our memories over the years we have spent in school, we have predispositions to patriotic symbols, family, religion, our individual strength, a caring nature and ingenuity.  All of these things were used in this commercial to draw us in and, in the end, to have a greater respect for the company behind the ad to hopefully get us to buy their product.

The commercial’s use of Paul Harvey’s voice as the narrator was a brilliant move. A man who was for a long time heard all over America, who was trusted and well respected by many people. In my opinion, it was completely unethical for Dodge to piggy back on Harvey’s credibility. With the love and respect that was and still is held by so many for this man, an emotional pull takes place on many of the audience. This of course is the idea and it works very well, but that does not make it ethically sound.

2.     

Peripheral- When first watching this commercial, there are a few different things about it that stand out to us a little more than others.  First, all the people displayed in the pictures looked to be like they were hard workers.  Also, there were a lot of different machines, along with Paul Harvey’s narration, that placed these people as farmers. Then I noticed the flag, which instantly reminded me of my freedom. Finally, the phrase at the end, “To the farmer in all of us” gave me the sense that I am a proud, hard working American, like the farmers displayed in the many pictures throughout the commercial.

Central- We see the Dodge trucks throughout the different clips, showing a connection between the hard working, tough yet tender and caring farmers. We see small animations in practically every shot, which lead us to be drawn in to each moment. Like the hay and birds flying or the dust moving, we are slowly pulled into the experiences as if they were our own. This is all done to make us feel as if this were us. Paul Harvey cannot be forgotten in this aspect either. He is a renowned radio broadcaster who the advertisers used to pull people in with the voice of a man, who for many years people loved and respected. They exploited his credibility for their own gain and they did it extremely well.

3.     

Pathos- Patriotism and American “farmers” who I think are really any patriotic American. Simply using the farmer as the example of a hardworking individual that deserves some respect and admiration for all they do. Still, Paul Harvey added some emotion, seeing that he was a well-known voice on the radio for around 50 years.

Logos- Logically this shows that farmers are hard workers, just look at the battered hands and the hard weather worn faces if you don’t think so. Now if we have hard workers they must have their tools that work just as hard. This leads to the conclusion that the producers of the commercial are after, which is Dodge trucks that also get dirty and haul heavy loads are what every hard worker needs. These trucks are the only tools that have just as much “guts and glory” as the hard workers who drive them.

Ethos- The credibility is from Paul Harvey and somewhat from the photos of the farmers that depict some of the hard work they do, both physically and mentally in some instances. Paul Harvey’s credibility comes from his history in broadcasting. People loved to listen to him and trusted him for many years. The photos show credibility by connecting with us the thoughts we associate with hard working, tough and yet tender people. The photos frame up our thoughts of these aspects and present them before us, thus giving credibility to what we are hearing and seeing because they coincide.  

4.     

There were a lot of different truths that could be surmised throughout this commercial. An example of one might be when the calf dies after the farmer did all he could to save it, then thinks he will try again next year. The truth learned in this moment could be that there is another chance and though failure happens we cannot give up. Also, at the end the son wants to be like the dad. The dad sighs and then smiles, truth being that he is realizes that his son is choosing a hard life. However, because of this he is proud of his son, hence the smile that followed.

5.     

With the pathos portion of the proofs, we can see the fidelity of the narrative perspective. Everyone has had something in their life that they associate as being hard work and some form of a family connection whether they are blood, friends, pets and so forth. People try to find something that they belong to, something that they can relate to and that is what this commercial is doing with the emotional ties to things that we already share some type of past experience with. These are seen with the family praying/just being together, the tough and worn out hands, the sadness and hope shown while in a religious building or location, the joy and happiness, all of these emotional settings that can resonate within members of the audience.

Now hitting on the logos proofs in the narrative. This proof is part of the narrative approach, only it’s given a new name with a few alterations. With narrative we call it coherence, or the flow of the story. Logos has a logical flow to it, one plus two equals three kind of idea. If there is no logical flow or coherence in the story or narrative then the speaker will lose the audience and everything they are aiming for will come to a halt. With the smooth flow of the story it keeps people engaged and thinking about what they feel to be true and plausible. All this in turn leads them to the desired conclusion of needing the truck, the only strong and logical purchase to help out a hard working American patriot, or so the commercial would lead you to believe.

Now for the ethos side of the story that is being told in this commercial. The ethos, or credibility, comes from some of the images that are portraying the hard working farmers, you can't really argue the sturdy people that are shown and their worn out hands and fingernails. But we cannot ignore where an overwhelming amount of the ethos comes from, Paul Harvey. Paul was a radio broadcaster for many years. People heard him all the time delivering the news, telling stories and being the voice on commercials. So the fact that he was used, again, is no real surprise. He had great influence during his hay day and many people still know who he is and respect him. This, of course. led people to respect his judgments and things that may be associated with him. Which is what this commercial does, they tie him to their product to get his credibility to, in a sense, roll over onto them.

6.     

The Triumphant Individual, or the successful little guy story is seen throughout the commercial in things like the American farmer being portrayed with the flag symbolizing our culture and patriotism. Also, by showing farms that appear to be in the heartland of America or the bread basket. We see things like the family praying together showing a social side to the successful little guy story with the mention of the farmer at the beginning of the speech given by Paul Harvey going to town for a meeting with the school board all night. This shows a socially successful, culturally strong, proud and deep rooted American individual. This is how our culture is oriented. On the success of the individual is where we focus, not the group. This cultural parable is but one of a few that can be seen in this commercial.

7.     

There are a good number of Marwell & Schmitt’s Taxonomies present in this commercial. To name a few that we can see, there is positive expertise, positive self-feeling, moral appeal and positive altercasting. Positive expertise is shown through Paul Harvey as he speaks about how God made a farmer and the strength that a farmer has to disk, plow, throw bails and also to be gentle in weaning cows or splinting the leg of a meadow lark. He is saying that not as a question but as a fact, giving the impression that he is an expert on the subject. We can see how positive self-feeling is being displayed in how things are worded in the narration. This is not done directly but can be seen in how Harvey says things like God needed someone who could work all day or who could bail a family together. Things that can be interpreted by the audience in many ways each depending on the individual. But these can be seen as saying you will feel better about yourself if you are the one that does these things. 

Now looking at the moral appeal, we see many instances that this commercial alludes to topics or values that we already hold in order to establish some common ground. This can be seen in how we briefly see the American flag which is commonly associated with patriotism or the family praying together. These attempts to establish a shared value with the company and the audience is in attempt to further persuade us to buy the truck.

Lastly, I would like to talk about positive altercasting. This is shown all throughout the narrative by Paul. Everything in it is, in a sense, positive altercasting but the most direct one is right at the end when it says, “to the farmer in all of us” followed by the Dodge Ram symbol basically stating we all are hard working in some way, so the smart thing to do is get this hard working vehicle.

The objective in the end is to get you to buy a Dodge truck. However, to get you to that point they push as many “buttons” to get you loving the idea of not just a truck, but of patriotism, family, hard work, sorrow, love and faith to name a few. They want us to feel that they are on our side, they have the same values we have and they only want us to have the best things. So is this the best or is it not? This is left up to the viewer, but it is safe to say that it is definitely trying to persuade (or con) us into believing them.

8.

This commercial hits on all the motivational process premises. It shows us throughout the entirety of the commercial how good “tools” are needed for any hard worker, thus hitting the need of getting a truck. Also, we see emotional ties to helping an animal with a broken leg, being with family with all the joy therein and the pride felt in the father of his son who wants to be just as hard working as him. Attitudes are impossible to miss, they show direct shots of beliefs in God by the farmer’s family praying together, they show opinions that we all hold about farmers being hard workers. This is pretty easy for most of us to come to the same opinion, because if you are not hard working you won’t remain a farmer for long. Lastly, consistency is shown as Paul Harvey, in a way, circles in what he says. First he said God needed a caretaker, which then led to him explaining a caretaker. He then moved on to a hard worker and then explained this hard worker over and over in different ways. By doing this it begins to eradicate any dissonance we may have about the subject and we fall in line with what is being presented.

9.    

From Packer’s compelling needs I feel the best one to relate to this add is the need for Reassurance of Worth. With this meaning that we are in a competitive world and often just feel like a number not a person, we have an underlying feeling to show someone we are not just a number and that we are significant and accomplished. We want to be appreciated by others for our work so we must know how.

This I feel is the most relevant need to this ad. Paul Harvey does a great job in showing that being a farmer is worthwhile. They are not just another number getting so many bales of hay or so many bushels of corn, but they have great worth. They are the ones who put in forty hours by Tuesday yet work seventy more before the week is out. There is nothing they can’t do even if you give them little to nothing to work with (like a hunk of car tire, feed sacks or shoe scraps). All this time Paul is talking about farmers, but there is no way that we all can’t relate in some way to what is being said about them. Then at the end Dodge won’t let us escape unscathed, they say “to the farmer in all of us”. This tells us that we all have worth, we all can be and are great hard working Americans (must not forget the patriotic side to the ad). So we must show what we are and to do this we need a Dodge Ram. With this our value can be shown and we will be appreciated by others, for they will know we are hard workers.

10.

Visually we see may things that are designed to prey upon our attitudes, such as the shot of the American flag in the window. This is shown to pull us into the patriotic mindset that we all have had indoctrinated into us over the years through things like saying the pledge in school to singing the anthem at ball games. We also see at the beginning the chapel then later the farmer standing in the pews and then later praying with his family. All of these bank off our background of strong religious ties within our county. It never specifies which, but through the pictures you can incorporate Christianity due to the cross on the church, for example. Also, they show us the picture of the children, first the little girl then near the end the little boy, which help to draw us in with the love that is generally associated between parents and their children. Thus they yet again pull us in based on our world views about our beliefs in a higher power and the importance of family bonds. This pulls out of us agreements in what values they have as compared to what we ourselves hold.

Looking at the worn faces of the many farmers, their beaten hands, battered gloves, stained hats and of course dirty trucks, they hit on our preexisting attitudes and beliefs of farmers being hard working run-of-the-mill Americans. This undoubtedly is their target audience.

They are not after the rich and famous, they’re after the majority. So what they show us resonates with us at some degree or another. We agree more with some and less with others, but we get hit with so many angles we are bound to come out with a positive outlook about Dodge.