How do we know what we know? Logic is one way. Advertisements try to appeal to our sense of logic, so that we buy into a brand or purchase a product. When studying ads we often ask ourselves" 'what are the advertisers really saying?' In order to read between the lines, we often use reasoning. Take for example this Volvo ad which reads, "Cages save lives." While there is no image of a car, we somehow know that the advertisers are trying to sell us one. We fill in the blanks: 'If cages save lives, and Volvos are built like cages, then Volvos must save lives." How do we come to this conclusion?
In this lesson we will look at the reasoning behind ads. This reasoning, as we will discover, can be quite flawed and very implicit.
There are two ways in which we come to conclusions: through inductive and deductive reasoning.
Notice there is not a single condom in the entire ad. The text, however, helps us come to these conclusions. We apply another general rule that men are more advanced or 'evolved' than pigs. And we are told that using a condom every time is part of being that more evolved human being (or 'man').
The problem with this syllogism is that we are filling in a lot of gaps. In fact there are only three words in this ad: 'Be fast. Adidas.' We have assumed the rest. 'Enthymemes' are incomplete syllogisms where premises must be assumed. 'Be fast. Adidas' is really an enthymeme, just as 'Cages save lives' and 'Evolve. Be a man. Use a condom every time.' Most ads are in fact enthymemes.
Below you see several ads. These ads all imply much more than they state. For each ad try to write out a syllogism, explaining its implicit use of inductive or deductive reasoning.
"Best to keep some windows closed"
"Fast Internet access when and where you need it"