Red White and Beer
Renee Pierce
Mrs. Hipp
Expo English 12- period 6
20 March 2015
Patriotism as a Trope to Veil American Consumerism
“Red, White, and Beer” is a satire that confronts tropes esoterically deemed American within common American beer commercials. The author rhetorically employs satire that would ideally provoke an emotional (humorous) response in an attempt to challenge the ethos of American beer commercials. By indirectly pointing fun at the “murica f*** yeah!” advertising strategies, the author attempts to break down its purpose of kindling emotions that connect it to the idea that a product is somehow more “American” than its competition. The author uses a set of rhetorical devices to directly or ironically elucidate a number of “More American than thou” strategies used by the advertising campaigns of beer commercials. One of his points was to describe the visual power of using arbitrary definitions of “American”; he points fun at what he says mainly happens in Miller Beer commercials: “Burly, American men go around, drenched in perspiration, shaking each other’s hands in a violent and patriotic fashion.” Although the author never directly discusses his criticisms, he uses hypotheticals and humor to convey his points: “Another possible explanation is that, since there are never any women in the part of America where beer commercials are made, the burly men have become lonesome and desperate for any form of physical contact.” With that, the author also implies another trope that women are not part of the “manly, American” targeted demographic, further discrediting the aforementioned strategy’s integrity. The author comedically uses both hypothetical and anecdotal evidence to ridicule “American” beer commercials. By creating a dichotomy between the commercial trope of “burly men building things or doing work while also being under the influence of alcohol, because America”, he describes a moment of his life where he and his friends helped another friend
Mrs. Hipp
Expo English 12- period 6
20 March 2015
Patriotism as a Trope to Veil American Consumerism
“Red, White, and Beer” is a satire that confronts tropes esoterically deemed American within common American beer commercials. The author rhetorically employs satire that would ideally provoke an emotional (humorous) response in an attempt to challenge the ethos of American beer commercials. By indirectly pointing fun at the “murica f*** yeah!” advertising strategies, the author attempts to break down its purpose of kindling emotions that connect it to the idea that a product is somehow more “American” than its competition. The author uses a set of rhetorical devices to directly or ironically elucidate a number of “More American than thou” strategies used by the advertising campaigns of beer commercials. One of his points was to describe the visual power of using arbitrary definitions of “American”; he points fun at what he says mainly happens in Miller Beer commercials: “Burly, American men go around, drenched in perspiration, shaking each other’s hands in a violent and patriotic fashion.” Although the author never directly discusses his criticisms, he uses hypotheticals and humor to convey his points: “Another possible explanation is that, since there are never any women in the part of America where beer commercials are made, the burly men have become lonesome and desperate for any form of physical contact.” With that, the author also implies another trope that women are not part of the “manly, American” targeted demographic, further discrediting the aforementioned strategy’s integrity. The author comedically uses both hypothetical and anecdotal evidence to ridicule “American” beer commercials. By creating a dichotomy between the commercial trope of “burly men building things or doing work while also being under the influence of alcohol, because America”, he describes a moment of his life where he and his friends helped another friend
Cited: "Red White And Beer - Dave Barry 's Greatest Hits." Red White And Beer - Dave Barry 's Greatest Hits. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.