Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Rhetorical Analysis of Super Bowl Commercial- Hank the Clydesdale



In this commercial, Budweiser does a very good job of appealing to the emotions (Pathos) of the viewers by having one of the horses not get picked for the Hitch team. The commercial opens up with one of the spokesmen of Budweiser say, “The final horse for this year’s Hitch team is… thunder.” Then you see a horse walk over to where all of the other horses are standing. This action makes you feel sorry for the other horse. It makes you want to want the horse on the Hitch team. We also get a view of one of the spokespersons walking away from Hank saying, “Maybe next year.” Then the sad piano music starts to play. The camera pans over and you see the other horses all geared up with whatever horses are geared up with and in the corner; you see the loan horse that is not geared up.
The commercial then goes on to a Dalmatian who runs up to the horse, barks, and then runs off with the horse following close behind. This is when the commercial really starts to pick up. We he the classic “Gonna Fly Now” from the Rocky series and when you hear that song then you know what happens next. That is right folks it’s a training scene. We see the dog leading the horse on runs and pretty much doing all of the stuff that a trainer would do. We as the audience are rooting for the horse to do the work in order to be on the Hitch team.
Hank is the underdog in the story here. You want the underdog to win (at least in this case.). You see Hank go through the whole training sequence that ends with him pulling a train.
The commercial goes on to one year later and guess whose back? That’s right the spokes people are back and they are recruiting a new hitch team. Hank strolls out of the barn in the gear that the horses wear and the spokes man says “welcome aboard hank.” The commercial ends with the horse and the dog giving each other a high five.
Budweiser always does a good job at appealing with the emotions of the viewers. They like to present an underdog in the story and have the said underdog win in the end. 

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