Luminosity Rhetorical Analysis
Luminosity: Brain Games for the Not So Critical
By Andriy Struk
Luminosity – Why I Play advertisement description:
Luminosity logo appears; an outline of a profile of a man with an orange brain. In the next scene an older woman with gray hair and glasses says “I did it to be quicker.” as white scribbles (like chalk on the board) of lightning bolts appear around her, a disclaimer is placed in the bottom left corner “actor portrayal”. In the following scene a young man says “Just to stay sharp.” as white scribble of glasses appear around his eyes. Next a young woman says with a relieved half joking expression “To remember people’s names.” as names and name tags appear around her. The previously shown older woman appears and says ”To concentrate a little better.” as drops with simple math problems in them fall by her. Next, the same young man is shown and says “To learn faster” as little squarer arrangements with some squares getting filled in is seen in the background. A young woman with dyed blond curly hair appears and says “Just not to miss stuff.” while little white circles are flying around on white lines representing orbits around her head. The young woman …show more content…
with black hair says “And you know to get stuff from here to out there” as she gestures her hand pointing from her head then forward, white caricature lines are added for motion effect around her fingers and a little light bulb is drawn to depict ideas. In the next scene Luminosity logo is seen an outline man’s profile getting filled with gears where the brain should be, the commentator says “No matter why you want a better brain luminosity.com can help”, a caricature of a computer display is shown on which there is a title “My Brain Profile” followed by charts titled memory, attention and performance. “It’s like a personal trainer for your brain, improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity” the commentator says, as a mouse is seen clicking on performance graph and you can see the graph showing performance improving over time. “But in a way that just feel like games” he continues as examples of few games are shown. “Start training with luminosity.com now and discover what your brain can do” the commentator finishes and a young woman can be seen smiling as white caricatures appear radiating from her head.
At first glance this ad seems likely to catch attention of those who want an extra little juice when it comes to cognitive ability.
Living in a world where everyone is so busy and cognitive performance is important to stay on the ball to live a happy and successful life, anyone who is watching this ad might think they found something that can help. A cheap exciting way to boost your performance sounds like a deal. But does it actually work? As we shall see a close examination suggests that this ad actually targets a vulnerable population by creating an illusion that they provide a solution to many life problems. Information is presented in a misleading manner that really draws the customer to trying their products, but the product simply does not work, at least not in the way we would expect it
work.
Use of testimonials is a common strategy to create an emotional appeal and move the audience. The tendency to sympathize makes it easy for the viewer to believe in the efficacy of the product when it is claimed to be effective. It is well known that testimonials can barely constitute reliable form of evidence; of course this does not matter for someone who relies on peripheral route of persuasion – characterized by being persuaded by what feels right instead of what’s logical. However, the almost imperceptible “actor portrayal” disclaimer suggest that these are not actual testimonials. The disclaimer was positioned in an unusual spot and it was in a small transparent font, and appeared for a relatively brief amount of time when the viewers’ attention was already directed on the speaker and moving scribbles around her head. It’s quite clear that the advertiser followed the bare legal minimum required to display the disclaimer so it’s not seen, knowing that would lead to an unwanted effect on the viewer. This is evidence that advertisers aim is to use emotional appeal while allowing them to hire actors and actresses that the target audience can sympathize with the most.
Having shown four different actors in the advertisement, they have successfully targeted a broad audience and possibly contributed to the perception that luminosity brain games are for everyone. Since, the actors often depict the target audience; we can identify several groups of targets. First, we have young men and women, possibly overworked individuals early in their career or in collage. Second, we have older individuals, possibly those with cognitive decline. Interestingly the advertisement included a young woman in one of the scenes that may fit the stereotype of a ditsy individual, possibly creating an appeal for those who feel insecure about their cognitive ability. All these individuals have something in common; they are all concerned or unsatisfied with their cognitive performance, making them vulnerable to this type of marketing. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, right? Here is a company who can provide a product that can help those individuals, of course that’s if the product actually does what it’s claimed to do, but more importantly what it’s expected to do.
When it comes to cognitive performance, people value what matters in everyday life. Things such as not forgetting where the keys are placed, not get distracted while at work or when someone is delivering a discourse, to be fast and effective and use things as directed so one can complete projects on time, keep their job, or get that promotion. But what does luminosity have to offer to individuals who believe they lack any of these cognitive capacities? According to Luminosity “no matter why you want a better brain luminosity.com can help”. Sounds great! It seems like they can address any aspect of deficient cognitive performance or better yet make it super human, they even emphasize the point by saying “start training at luminosity.com now and discover what your brain can do” as if there is some untapped potential we are yet to discover. Although we should be weary of anyone who tells us they can address any aspect of cognitive functioning to the extend we want to, which what it appears they are claiming. Considering obvious limits of human performance, irreversible brain damage, plethora of brain pathologies, and genetic factors that predetermine your lifetime performance, Luminosity’s integrity of their claims are worth investigating. What kind of powerful method must they use to surpass such cognitive hurdles; well according to Luminosity if you join their website you will be “improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity”. Sounds advanced and technologically superior to other methods of improving cognition, however neuroplasticity occurs during any learning process, this including remembering something about this article. So upon closer examination, consumer of luminosity products is subject to an essentially task specific practice, but are lead to believe they are doing something more sophisticated. A rather innocent statement on part of Luminosity, yet malicious, since they are creating an illusion that their product is doing something special, capitalizing on a less knowledgeable population. However, such a tactic is justifiable if it attracts those in need and they can actually provide the necessary help.
There appears to be research that shows the effectiveness of Luminosity’s training program with 15 studies and counting, really making it seem like they are on to something. However, all the research is performed by luminosity and organizations funded by luminosity meaning there is a conflict of interest. Keeping in mind brain training is likely to be a multi-million dollar industry, considering luminosity.com has more than 50 million users it’s a wealthy company that can amass a great deal of research papers that show statistically significant results and afford to discard the majority of studies with null results. To address this problem we have to turn to researchers who will take a rigorous approach to verifying the efficacy of brain training and are not influenced by greedy companies. Unfortunately, there are little studies providing evidence in support of brain training and for these that do show support there is a more rigorous study to refute its claims. Take for example highly cited research conducted by Dr. Owen and his colleagues at MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, their study published in a reputable journal Nature calls upon a massive sample of 11,430 participants, testing cognitive tasks (similar to those used by luminosity) designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Their results suggest that individuals do get better in those tasks, but there is no generalization effect – which is when skills learned in one task extends to other related tasks and so presumably real life. In retrospect much of research conducted by luminosity is focused on performance improvement in their tasks and those studying generalization effect have sample size 10-100 times smaller than Dr. Owens study, suggesting poor rigor in methods.
It appears that Luminosity.com is not what it appears to be and their advertisement is a message of false hope. The ad is manufactured by a money hungry company who will go out of its way to devise a mean to capitalize on those who are the most vulnerable. The target audience is misled by offers of better cognitive performance and thus a better life, but instead it hits their wallets and wastes their time. One could argue that such marketing tactics are highly immoral but in a world driven by money such activity will persist, thus it is our duty to become more educated and educate others about the realities of modern consumerism. 1. Luminosity. “Lumosity.com -- Why I Play.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 4 January, 2012. Web. 13 June, 2013. 2. Owen, Adrian M., et al. "Putting brain training to the test." Nature 465.7299 (2010): 775-778.
By Andriy Struk
Luminosity – Why I Play advertisement description:
Luminosity logo appears; an outline of a profile of a man with an orange brain. In the next scene an older woman with gray hair and glasses says “I did it to be quicker.” as white scribbles (like chalk on the board) of lightning bolts appear around her, a disclaimer is placed in the bottom left corner “actor portrayal”. In the following scene a young man says “Just to stay sharp.” as white scribble of glasses appear around his eyes. Next a young woman says with a relieved half joking expression “To remember people’s names.” as names and name tags appear around her. The previously shown older woman appears and says ”To concentrate a little better.” as drops with simple math problems in them fall by her. Next, the same young man is shown and says “To learn faster” as little squarer arrangements with some squares getting filled in is seen in the background. A young woman with dyed blond curly hair appears and says “Just not to miss stuff.” while little white circles are flying around on white lines representing orbits around her head. The young woman …show more content…
with black hair says “And you know to get stuff from here to out there” as she gestures her hand pointing from her head then forward, white caricature lines are added for motion effect around her fingers and a little light bulb is drawn to depict ideas. In the next scene Luminosity logo is seen an outline man’s profile getting filled with gears where the brain should be, the commentator says “No matter why you want a better brain luminosity.com can help”, a caricature of a computer display is shown on which there is a title “My Brain Profile” followed by charts titled memory, attention and performance. “It’s like a personal trainer for your brain, improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity” the commentator says, as a mouse is seen clicking on performance graph and you can see the graph showing performance improving over time. “But in a way that just feel like games” he continues as examples of few games are shown. “Start training with luminosity.com now and discover what your brain can do” the commentator finishes and a young woman can be seen smiling as white caricatures appear radiating from her head.
At first glance this ad seems likely to catch attention of those who want an extra little juice when it comes to cognitive ability.
Living in a world where everyone is so busy and cognitive performance is important to stay on the ball to live a happy and successful life, anyone who is watching this ad might think they found something that can help. A cheap exciting way to boost your performance sounds like a deal. But does it actually work? As we shall see a close examination suggests that this ad actually targets a vulnerable population by creating an illusion that they provide a solution to many life problems. Information is presented in a misleading manner that really draws the customer to trying their products, but the product simply does not work, at least not in the way we would expect it
work.
Use of testimonials is a common strategy to create an emotional appeal and move the audience. The tendency to sympathize makes it easy for the viewer to believe in the efficacy of the product when it is claimed to be effective. It is well known that testimonials can barely constitute reliable form of evidence; of course this does not matter for someone who relies on peripheral route of persuasion – characterized by being persuaded by what feels right instead of what’s logical. However, the almost imperceptible “actor portrayal” disclaimer suggest that these are not actual testimonials. The disclaimer was positioned in an unusual spot and it was in a small transparent font, and appeared for a relatively brief amount of time when the viewers’ attention was already directed on the speaker and moving scribbles around her head. It’s quite clear that the advertiser followed the bare legal minimum required to display the disclaimer so it’s not seen, knowing that would lead to an unwanted effect on the viewer. This is evidence that advertisers aim is to use emotional appeal while allowing them to hire actors and actresses that the target audience can sympathize with the most.
Having shown four different actors in the advertisement, they have successfully targeted a broad audience and possibly contributed to the perception that luminosity brain games are for everyone. Since, the actors often depict the target audience; we can identify several groups of targets. First, we have young men and women, possibly overworked individuals early in their career or in collage. Second, we have older individuals, possibly those with cognitive decline. Interestingly the advertisement included a young woman in one of the scenes that may fit the stereotype of a ditsy individual, possibly creating an appeal for those who feel insecure about their cognitive ability. All these individuals have something in common; they are all concerned or unsatisfied with their cognitive performance, making them vulnerable to this type of marketing. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, right? Here is a company who can provide a product that can help those individuals, of course that’s if the product actually does what it’s claimed to do, but more importantly what it’s expected to do.
When it comes to cognitive performance, people value what matters in everyday life. Things such as not forgetting where the keys are placed, not get distracted while at work or when someone is delivering a discourse, to be fast and effective and use things as directed so one can complete projects on time, keep their job, or get that promotion. But what does luminosity have to offer to individuals who believe they lack any of these cognitive capacities? According to Luminosity “no matter why you want a better brain luminosity.com can help”. Sounds great! It seems like they can address any aspect of deficient cognitive performance or better yet make it super human, they even emphasize the point by saying “start training at luminosity.com now and discover what your brain can do” as if there is some untapped potential we are yet to discover. Although we should be weary of anyone who tells us they can address any aspect of cognitive functioning to the extend we want to, which what it appears they are claiming. Considering obvious limits of human performance, irreversible brain damage, plethora of brain pathologies, and genetic factors that predetermine your lifetime performance, Luminosity’s integrity of their claims are worth investigating. What kind of powerful method must they use to surpass such cognitive hurdles; well according to Luminosity if you join their website you will be “improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity”. Sounds advanced and technologically superior to other methods of improving cognition, however neuroplasticity occurs during any learning process, this including remembering something about this article. So upon closer examination, consumer of luminosity products is subject to an essentially task specific practice, but are lead to believe they are doing something more sophisticated. A rather innocent statement on part of Luminosity, yet malicious, since they are creating an illusion that their product is doing something special, capitalizing on a less knowledgeable population. However, such a tactic is justifiable if it attracts those in need and they can actually provide the necessary help.
There appears to be research that shows the effectiveness of Luminosity’s training program with 15 studies and counting, really making it seem like they are on to something. However, all the research is performed by luminosity and organizations funded by luminosity meaning there is a conflict of interest. Keeping in mind brain training is likely to be a multi-million dollar industry, considering luminosity.com has more than 50 million users it’s a wealthy company that can amass a great deal of research papers that show statistically significant results and afford to discard the majority of studies with null results. To address this problem we have to turn to researchers who will take a rigorous approach to verifying the efficacy of brain training and are not influenced by greedy companies. Unfortunately, there are little studies providing evidence in support of brain training and for these that do show support there is a more rigorous study to refute its claims. Take for example highly cited research conducted by Dr. Owen and his colleagues at MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, their study published in a reputable journal Nature calls upon a massive sample of 11,430 participants, testing cognitive tasks (similar to those used by luminosity) designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Their results suggest that individuals do get better in those tasks, but there is no generalization effect – which is when skills learned in one task extends to other related tasks and so presumably real life. In retrospect much of research conducted by luminosity is focused on performance improvement in their tasks and those studying generalization effect have sample size 10-100 times smaller than Dr. Owens study, suggesting poor rigor in methods.
It appears that Luminosity.com is not what it appears to be and their advertisement is a message of false hope. The ad is manufactured by a money hungry company who will go out of its way to devise a mean to capitalize on those who are the most vulnerable. The target audience is misled by offers of better cognitive performance and thus a better life, but instead it hits their wallets and wastes their time. One could argue that such marketing tactics are highly immoral but in a world driven by money such activity will persist, thus it is our duty to become more educated and educate others about the realities of modern consumerism. 1. Luminosity. “Lumosity.com -- Why I Play.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 4 January, 2012. Web. 13 June, 2013. 2. Owen, Adrian M., et al. "Putting brain training to the test." Nature 465.7299 (2010): 775-778.