Fact or Fiction?

I. We start off today by answering last weeks question. Would an add be appealing if it didn't have any form of loaded language or Fallacies? Would people buy a product if it truly only stated what the product did and how to use it? Over the past week I checked commercials and it seemed that every add had some form over loaded language or fallacies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcH-3d-BZn4 Even Ben Stein's Clear eyes commercials use loaded language, "Clear eyes is AWESOME". If Ben Stein cant make a commercial with out loaded language I don't think its out there. 


II. This week in ethics class we watched the movie Bowling for Columbine. Though the movie is funny at times it's not always accurate. One of the main things we went over was the 'Pro-gun' Rally After Columbine didn't actually happen the way the movie portrayed it. If you watch closely the clip that says "from my cold dead hands" is actually a different day from the rally. They make out the rally to be this awful meeting disrespecting the event that happened when really Henston was required by law to hold this meeting by its non-profit charter from the state  of New York, so cancellation was impossible. More Information on the inaccuracy of this part of the movie can be found on http://www.bowlingfortruth.com. The class made think about the fact if we didn't read the article from bowling for truth then I would have believe Michael Moore's Movie. Which shows me that you have to be very careful what you see on TV or read in magazines and news papers. 

III. How important are ethics in today's society? If i watch the news will i find extremely bias edited video or will it truly sate the facts?

ben stein clear eyes. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcH-3d-BZn4
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bloggerway.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ethics.jpg

A New Beginning

I. Because this is the first post there is no thought-provoking question to answer from last time.

II. This week in class we learned about loaded language and Fallacies. Loaded Language is used to put a spin on things. There are two main forms of loaded language we focused on. Euphemisms which are intended by the speaker to be less offensive. An example would be saying someone passed away instead of saying they have died. The other was power words. Power words are used to get the persons attention. Examples are NEW, FREE. The next thing we learned about were Fallacies. A fallacy is an invalid argument. There are 22 different types of fallacies.

After learning about the loaded language and Fallacies I started to notice them more in advertisements. Then I started wondering if I want things I see on TV because I really think I'll use them or because the commercial convinced me I did. When we talked about the different types of fallacies in class, i thought about times they were used, that made me want to buy there product or help their cause. After all who has seen the SPCA commercials and not wanted to help or felt bad for not helping? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ. Their Fallacy is Appeal to pity. You actually feel bad while watching it even though the SPCA doesn't put down any of their animals and has a good facility for them. This weeks class has made me more conscious about adds I see. I'll start rechecking to make sure what I'm buying is what I need not just something someone convinced me i need.

III. My Question for this week is, would an add be appealing if it didn't have any form of loaded language or Fallacies? Would people buy a product if it truly only stated what the product did and how to use it?