Budweiser's "Puppy Love" Super Bowl Commercial
Using a tactic very common among recent commercials, Budweiser has created an effective commercial that is completely unrelated to the product being sold. Its "Puppy Love" Super Bowl commercial features a puppy who loves at a pet adoption center and befriends one of the neighbor's horses. When a man tries to take the puppy away, the horse saves the day and gets him back to the farm where he belongs.
From the very beginning, this entire commercial is designed to appeal to pathos: specifically, to the audience's senses of cultural memory and cuteness. The advertisement begins by playing a popular song that many people consider beautiful and moving. On top of that, the song is now telling the story of a puppy. We still don't know what the commercial is about, but it's adorable and we have to find out what happens. The man who adopts the puppy is the obvious antagonist of the commercial's short plot. He is portrayed as disinterested and uncaring with the way he throws the puppy into the backseat. Of course, the horse is the hero, who gallops over in a flash of light to stop the mean man from taking the poor puppy. Finally, in a happy ending, the pappy gallops back home so he can play with his horse best friend forever. The end.
In the span of one minute, the audience of this commercial has been taken through an entire plotline based on the friendship of two animals. Nobody knows what it's actually advertising. At last, we see the point: it's a Budweiser commercial based on a play on words of the phrase "best buds." Logically speaking, this should not convince anyone to purchase Budweiser beer. It has given absolutely no reason why you should. However, the commercial is entertaining and memorable, and that alone will earn millions of dollars for the company. The implied connection between puppies and beer is one big logical fallacy, but it's just so darn cute.
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