Post 13

This advertisement, which is meant to be a spoof of a Calvin Klein underwear advertisement with a nice, buff guy with a perfect body, is the reality of life, as the advertisement says. In turn, this advertisement utilizes a few rhetorical strategies. Across the chest of the not so appealing man, the advertisement says “REALITY for men” utilizing narration, analogy, comparison and contrast, and classification. The narration aspect is the words “REALITY for men” across the mans chest because it, instead of selling the product, tells a story of what most men look like in real life. The analogy is the “selling point” that not all men look like they do in all of the Calvin Klein advertisements. There is a comparison between this advertisement, with the not so attractive man who is overweight with a hairy chest, to the usual Calvin Klein models who are attractive- or at least their bodies are and they are in good shape with no hair on their chest, this is also the element of contrasting the two. Additionally, the classification used in this advertisement is the fact that it places men in what is a more normal category for them than the usual Calvin Klein advertisement that does nothing of that sort, it instead holds men to a much higher standard of appearance which just is not the case.
Additionally, this advertisement appeals to emotions, ethos, in the sense that it is comical more than anything. How often do you see a male who is not in tip top shape in an underwear advertisement, whether it is serious or not? However, as I have previously mentioned, it does a good job of placing less emphasis on the fact that most male models are fairly attractive. So, in that sense, this advertisement is a good thing because it brings people back to reality and the fact that not everyone has the perfect body.