Appeal to authority is an art where famous paper employ rhetoric to convince people, especially in an advertisement. The art does not provide evidence for the claims but instead relies on fame and reputation.
Dwayne Johnson recently advertised the Iphone’s artificial intelligence assistant, Siri. He is a fitness fanatic, an actor, a publicist and an entertainer on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Siri manages all these. Siri is, therefore, the brains behind his busy life. The advert, on the highest selling phone, is relevant because it got over 18 million views and millions more on mainstream media.
An advert by Kevin Hart advertising Colgate toothpaste got a lot of views though not as significant as Dwayne’s because of difference in popularity and dominance of products in the market industry. Kevin’s appeal is that the confidence to make people smile is his faith in Colgate. Though the advert did not get as many views, Sergio Aguero (international football player) advertises a virtual football game. His appeal is the development of talent from the game.
In a video, by Katy Perry, she answers a call after collecting a Sony Xperia phone from a glass. The phone is allegedly capable of surviving in water. Unfortunately, the advert does not specify the maximum height and time the phone can last in water. Mark, a friend, bought the phone and went swimming with it. At the deepest end of the pool, the phone leaked water inside and got destroyed.
Appeals to authority rely on fame; they are only proven after purchasing the product or conducting research from the internet. Thus to validate the sources, research needs to be established but which is free from interference by the appellants and advertising firms. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the product before purchase is important through inquiries from the suppliers and manufacturers.
Sources from the main stream and social media tend to be most believed. This is because they offer personalized feedback. To avoid unreliable sources, we need to research on the products and question the appellant’s knowledge and expertise in the product or service, “No one can be trusted on their appeal to authority every time,” (Nordquist 1). Just like in Mark’s case, the problem could have been avoided had he questioned the limits of the advert; its effects and possible problems associated with it.
Work Cited
Nordquist, Richard. “Appeal to Authority: A Logical Fallacy.” Thought Co. 1.1 (2017): 1. Print. 09 March 2018. <https://www.thoughtco.com/appeal-to-authority-logical-fallacy-1689120>.
