Rhetorical Analysis: "Don't Sell Your Hair to a Wig Shop"

Late nights while I would be watching television, the random-est commercials would make their daily appearance. One commercial that has really stuck with me throughout the years is the Direct TV commercial. If you haven't seen this commercial, it features a man who has a difficult time selecting what to watch on television. A simple problem, I know, but what happens after is so humorous and ridiculous that it makes it memorable. As a result of not finding anything entertaining to watch, he falls into depression, which leads him to visiting inspiration seminars. It is through this empowering seminar that the man feels like a winner. This mentality prompts the man to go to Las Vegas, where he loses everything. The last few frames depicts the man with his hair shaved, selling his hair to a wig shop. Keep this in mind, all these events are the result of not knowing what to watch on television.

The video's argument is to demonstrate the results of not having Direct TV, which leads to a variety of events. The purpose of the video itself is to get people to switch from cable television to Direct TV and the author is the company: Direct TV. This video primarily focuses on people who watch television and caters to the humorous side of people. The video can't help but make you laugh because of all the irrelevant events post watching television. There is no factual evidence to support the transitions of these events, but there are numerous amounts of fallacies. The most obvious fallacy is the slippery slope argument. The downward trend of misfortunes that this man faces is irrelevant and unpredictable. There is also the hasty generalization fallacy which corresponds to the depression the man has when not being able to find something to watch on television. The video doesn't mention or acknowledge its television competition directly but subtly. There are different backgrounds and surroundings in each of the frames which draws the attention of the audience.

Overall, this video is pretty effective in making the commercial memorable but is not very effective in selling it to the audience. The slippery slope of misfortunes which has no relevancy to the product being sold can cause some confusion for some people in the audience. There is no factual evidence or statistics on why you should get Direct TV instead of cable. The commercial is hasty to generalize that not being able to watch something on television will cause depression. Unless you're someone who is a strongly affected by television, I doubt that you will get depressed by not finding anything on television. I am not persuaded by the commercial to get Direct TV but I will remember this humorous commercial when the name Direct TV is mentioned anywhere. Watch the video below and comment below if you believe this commercial to be successful in selling its product. That's all for tonight, this is Leonard Yalong, signing off!