The Persuasive Style

"What sound/image techniques and rhetorical strategies do commercials use to make products seem desirable? What... is the persuasive style of the TV commercial?" (Butler, 2007, p. 388)

As I was researching Direct to Consumer prescription drug advertisements (DTCAs) I came across this advertisement for Enbrel, a medication to treat rheumatoid arthritis. I was moved by the narrative of the this particular ad and wanted to analyze what elements of the persuasive style made it so persuasive.

The commercial opens with a close up of a woman's hand rubbing her knee in slow motion and the narrator saying, "With rheumatoid arthritis it feels like my life is split in two." The hand becomes the x-ray image of a hand, and then the screen splits into two images. A close up of the woman's face is in one frame, and what I assume is her husband and children eating breakfast in the other frame. The narrator says, "There's the life I live, and the life I want to live." (Pfizer, Amgen) Let's stop and analyze the first seven seconds. First, there's the slow motion speed which is used to attract the viewer's attention. Narrative programs don't usually use variable speed action so it is something that we notice. Second, is the x-ray hand, a special effect that alters reality and causes us to pay attention. In an advertisement for a pharmaceutical drug the x-ray hand creates an air of scientific authenticity. "It [the x-ray image] speaks the language of a modernist belief in the capacity of science and technology. Scientific images are thus understood as providing the capacity to see 'truths' that are not available to the human eye" (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001, p.281). Superimposing the x-ray over the hand gives medical authority to the maker of the drug because they can "see" under the the skin; while not talking about the x-ray allows the advertisement to keep its disguise as a short story about people's lives.

The symbolism of the split screen is very effective in illustrating the isolation that can occur with illness. This commercial is selling an escape from illness and dystopia into the life you want to live. According to Jeremy Butler's Television: Critical Methods and Applications, in a utopia there is abundance, energy, intensity, transparency and community (2007). Looking at this advertisement, there are at least three of these characteristics in the utopian, or "the life I want to live", side of the screen, energy, intensity and community. In the dystopian side of the screen, the three people with rheumatoid arthritis are sitting alone, while a community of friends, family or work is gathered on the utopian side. The energy and intensity are not as obvious since the whole commercial is filmed in slow motion. Playing a musical instrument, watering flowers and pouring juice are impossible to do if one has severe joint pain, so to someone with arthritis, the target of this commercial, everyday activities are synonymous with the energy and intensity of living. After everyone in the commercial has taken Enbrel, the two screens merge into one when they walk into utopian the lives they want to live. In 30 seconds everyone is cured, and the viewer is treated to a satisfying and happy ending.


The music in this commercial is instrumental and without lyrics. It doesn't seem to be a persuasive element as much as it is a distraction. In the first half of the ad the pace of the music is slow, emulating the slow movement of the figures. After the screens merge and everyone is living the life they want, the pace of the music quickens and the volume increases. The narrator is listing the side effects of the drug at this point in the advertisement, and the increased pace and louder volume of the music seem to be an attempt to distract from the side effects. The people in the commercial are happier during these scenes also, and the upbeat music and imagery make it harder to concentrate on the long list of side effects and precautions. The drug manufacturers are hoping viewers get caught up in the happy ending and can't hear the rest of the story.

Works Cited:

Butler, Jeremy G. (2007). Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Sturken, M and Cartwright, L. (2001). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

Video retrieved from: http://youtu.be/_1ZFIab8wB8