Exercise 3, page 195

3. Find an advertisement that uses an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?

An advertisement that uses an appeal to fear which automatically came to mind for this exercise is the "Quit Smoking Campaign - Artery" video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEc-Rsv9pMc&feature=fvst

This specific commercial released by The National Tobacco Campaign is intended to show people why it is important for them to quit smoking. Moreover, in this commercial, NTC showed the public what smoking does to one's artery and how it can de deadly in some smokers' cases. This video uses appeal to fear by scaring people, by showing them what smoking cigarettes does to one's artery. In this case, I found the argument to be good. The video uses appeal to fear to convey a message which is intended towards a good cause and is done to show people how very important it is for them to stop smoking. The facts shown in the videos are true and so is the conclusion; the argument is therefore good.

I have seen many adds on television from the National Tobacco Campaign and I have to say that I find them very awakening. The appeal to fear in these cases is really well used because it truly affects people and makes them realize why smoking is not good for them nor the people around them. Now I am sure that for some smokers who are dependent on cigarettes, the adds might not be that powerful. But for myself at least, and many of my friends, the adds are powerful and scary enough for us to not want to become a consumer of cigarettes.