Budweiser Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Budweiser is an American beer that is made in America. In 2015, they put out a commercial during the Super Bowl called “Lost Puppy.” The speaker of this commercial is Budweiser with the target audience of beer drinkers. The ultimate purpose of this commercial is to sell more Budweiser beer. Budweiser uses this very short story about a puppy becoming lost and eventually finding its way back home because people are going to want to watch it start to end to see how the story plays out. The commercial starts off with the ideal American man walking out the barn door with a brown and white Clydesdale horse. The song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” plays in the background. Next a puppy emerges from the hay and wonders outside. The horse proceeds to nay at the puppy as if to warm it to stay inside the barn. The puppy wonders into a car trailer and is closed. The owner wonders where his puppy went but continues to leave without knowing the puppy is in the trailer. After a sudden stop, the door opens and the puppy runs out into the street. The owner
is concerned for his puppy and puts up fliers with a picture from previous commercials. The audience is then shown the saddest puppy in the internet hiding in a box while rain comes down. The horse and man are very miserable that the puppy is still missing, but then the puppy come running towards the farm. Everything is looking good for the puppy until a wild wolf appears. The pup whimpers and the horses break out to save it. The wolf runs away and the horses bring the puppy back to the farm safe. The commercial ends with the puppy getting a bath and the owner drinking a beer with the puppy and horse. The easiest and most common rhetoric device to recognize in this commercial is pathos, which is what appeals to your emotions like fear, anger, sadness, joy or trust. This particular Budweiser commercial does a great job at using pathos to get the audience emotional. The commercial opens up with a puppy emerging from a pile of hay and this immediately has the audience feeling happiness. This scene easily connects the company to those who love dogs. Next the puppy wonders off and when the horse nays at it, the puppy turns around to acknowledge the horse, which shows the friendship established in previous commercials between the two completely different animals. The puppy then wonders into a car trailer and gets out in the middle of the city. This has the audience worried about the puppy running around the city lost and wanting to know what will happen next to the puppy. The owner is going around the city looking for his lost puppy and hands out flyers with a picture of the horse and puppy from a previous commercial. This has the audience feeling sorry for this puppy’s owner. Right after, they show the saddest looking puppy sitting in a box while it is raining. People are left sad and wanting to help the puppy who cannot defend itself. The commercial then shows how sad both the owner and horse are about the puppy missing, which then furthers the empathy the audience has for them. Soon the puppy finds its way back to the farm and barks to get the horse’s attention. This gives the audience has some relief until a wild wolf appears and then has the audience worried that the puppy will be killed by this wolf. The puppy whimpers in fear and the commercial is cut a scene where the horses are trying to escape to rescue their puppy friend. This shows the love the horses have for this puppy and increases the audiences love for these characters. The horses save the puppy from the wolf and return back to the house in the morning to be greeted by their owner who gives the puppy a bath. The final scene is the owner drinking a Budweiser beer while enjoying the company of his horse and puppy. This commercial shows that even in your darkest hour your friends will help you out and to become closer to one another, you drink a Budweiser together. Throughout the entire commercial, the song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” slowed down. This song is used to show that the horse is committed and willing to do anything for the puppy. Logos is used to appeal to the audience’s logic and persuade them with reasoning. Budweiser shows that they are an honest company. They use the last scene of the commercial when the man drinks a beer in the barn with his puppy and horse to show the image of friendship. This image puts the thought of “If you drink a Budweiser beer, it will bring you and your friends together.” Basically Budweiser is the glue of friendships and to make them deeper have a beer with a friend. Ethos is the rhetoric that appeals to the group’s or each individual’s ethics and is used to convince someone of credibility.
This is what gives the company their public image. Budweiser uses the golden retriever puppy as their face of the commercial, while Budweiser is the actual speaker. This puppy is relatable because dogs are considered man’s best friend and golden retrievers are family oriented dogs. The other main character, the Clydesdale horse is used because they are the living embodiment of America’s great industrial spirit. The location of the farm gives the audience an image of America. The man used in this commercial is a white, American man who wears a Budweiser hat throughout the commercial, appears to be a farmer and looks like a trustworthy man. He is almost the image of the ideal American man. With the use of this particular actor, Budweiser is showing that they are for hard working
Americans. The purpose of this commercial is to sell more Budweiser beer. Whether or not people were convinced to do so changes individually based mainly on their emotional response to this particular commercial. This commercial keeps the audience watching from beginning to end because they want to know what happens to the puppy. The message to sell beer was more subtle due to the lack of Budweiser being mentioned or shown throughout.