Critque of a magazine ad, television commercial

Saving an American Way of Life

The opening shot pans out, taking in golden, low rolling hills, cut through by a slow flowing stream. The sky is brilliant blue with white clouds streaming across. In the distance, a herd of black cattle mill about, and even further off, a lone cowboy on horseback is silhouetted against the sky. It is an iconic picture of American ranch land. A female narrator tells the story of the ranch, explaining how fracking is the safe way to keep the ranch going. All the while, the viewer is regaled with scenes of family life on the ranch. The closing shot of the family is superimposed with the slogan, “SHALE. THE ENERGY TO DO IT RIGHT” (EnergyFromShale, 2013). This commercial uses emotive language, an either-or scenario, and faulty inductive reasoning, among other persuasive techniques, in an attempt to convince viewers that fracking is not only safe, but necessary, to preserve the American way of life.

Emotive Language

This commercial uses emotive language and video, from the opening shot of the ranch to the closing frame of the mom and her young daughter walking out to greet the rancher and his horse, in the sunset. Meanwhile, a female narrator (the wife of the rancher), tells how the ranch was built by her husband’s grandparents and how they have worked, “hard to keep it in the family” (EnergyFromShale, 2013). The camera then focuses on a brown plank wall of family snapshots, some black and white, highlighting the family legacy that is being threatened by the implied financial hardships the family is facing. The commercial cleverly uses the plain folks appeal with a ranching family as a symbol of American fortitude and values.

Either Fracking or Lose the Ranch

Without actually saying it, the commercial suggests the family needs to save the ranch and that fracking is a viable and safe solution. Ann Kern, using loaded language, says, “We do our best to protect what is ours” (EnergyFromShale, 2013). While intimate shots of ranch life stream before viewers’ eyes, Ann goes on to explain how this decision was made only after careful research concluded fracking is safe for the environment. Ann continues defending her family’s choice of allowing fracking, stating, “When you know the facts, you understand why we need this now and in the future” (EnergyFromShale, 2013).

Faulty Inductive Reasoning

Through flawed inductive reasoning, the commercial takes advantage of the common opinion that ranchers are good, commonsense people, who love their land and protect it against anything that might harm it. If these same ranchers allow fracking on their land, then fracking must be safe and not harmful to the land. The commercial uses hasty generalizations to justify fracking.

Conclusion

This commercial successfully persuades audiences that fracking is viable, safe, and perhaps even necessary for preserving an American way of life using emotive language, either/or fallacies, and faulty inductive reasoning. Despite these fallacies, it does an excellent job at swaying the viewer into believing that fracking is, indeed, advantageous to Americans.

References

EnergyFromShale. (2013). Colorado: Energy and community. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.energyfromshale.org/

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2013, July 13). Natural gas extraction: Hydraulic fracturing. Retrieved from http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing