Thursday, November 19, 2009

I'm too fast for Swine Flu

Apparently I'm feeling very tech-savvy this week, what with TWO videos on my blog. This one just feels like it really applies to our topic of persuasion.

Let's break it down:

The Video:



The Action we're being persuaded to take: Get a swine flu shot

The Reasons: -It is easily spread -It can kill -It can effect you even if you don't normally get sick.

The Tactic: Pathos. The video is trying to scare people into getting swine flu shots in order to prevent an epidemic. The scary background music, the use of the elderly and children getting ill, even the oddly cheerful-sounding narrator, all make this video scary and would make people feel like they ought to get a shot.


Also, I just think it's kind of funny. My two favorite parts are "Joe brought it home from the office and gave it to Betty, and one of his kids". Why not the other kid? That's bittersweet! On one hand you don't have swine flu, but on the other hand your dad doesn't love you enough to give it to you. My other favorite part: "In California, Betty's mother gave it to her best friend Dotty, but Dotty had a heart condition and she died". I just like this part because of how happy the narrator is that Dotty kicked the bucket. I imagine in the time it was made this video was pretty effective.

3 comments:

  1. Hahaha I think this video is really funny. It almost makes me not want to get the swine flu shot because it is so comical. I think you bring up a really good point, Andrew about how the narrator says, "In California, Betty's mother gave it to her best friend Dotty, but Dotty had a heart condition and she died". It really did feel like the narrator was happy to announce this. Since this video was found on ebaum's world, I have hard time taking it serious. I guess what I am saying is that the video itself is not necessarily encompass all the persuasion that goes on in trying to get people to act in a certain manner. The source of the persuasion or video is extremely important as well. If this was from the National Institute of Health or a credible organization I would probably take it more seriously-yet it is rather comical at parts.

    Kip

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  2. Andrew,

    I found this video to be very entertaining and to be extremely overdramatic. I felt like all it said was this person gave it to this one and this one and then she died, so get vaccinated or you will die too, especially if you have a health condition. I think the video was too dramatic and over the top that it actually made the video less effective. The way in which it was presented just seemed to be making a joke about the whole thing and and made it appear like they thought the shot was a scam, when in fact thats not what they thought at all. I thought the presentation was overall uneffective, but entertaining. I enjoyed your analysis, it made me laugh :)

    Amanda U

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  3. Andrew,

    I think that this clip was interesting, and your analysis right on spot. I wonder how effective the audience would have found it at that time period. Maybe they would have found it effective, but it seems like the person who made the film didn't know how to properly use emotional appeals. They must have intentionally made the narrator sound cheery when she says that someone died, but it seems from my perspective that it would have been much more effective if the person would have sounded depressed, shocked, or concerned. Perhaps the whole point of the startling contrast between death and a cheery attitude was to catch people's attention who weren't paying attention to the commercial, because it definitely did that for me, but kind of in a bad way. I agree with Amanda that it was entertaining.

    I also think it is interesting that there was a swine flu back in the 70s. I wonder if that is why they are now trying to stress that we call it H1N1 because scientists think that there is going to be an epidemic and they want future generations to be able to look it up and not get information on this flu.

    I also find it very interesting that U.S. Public Health Service sponsored/made this commercial...it seems that they would have been more formal or consistent with their approach.

    Thanks for sharing this clip!

    James

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