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“Drunken master” Comment by Malik Adam: Title is merely the name of the campaign; it’s also punctuated improperly.

According to three national studies that were conducted in the United States, namely the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), Monitoring the Future (MTF), and the Partnership Attitude Tracking Survey (PATS), the downward trends in teens drug use that was seen through most of the early 2000’s has now stabilized due to use of some measures such as use of media advertisement against drug use (Young, 409). Most of the campaign strategies have been focused towards discouraging the teens towards engaging themselves in use of drugs and substances by depicting a bad feature against persons who engage themselves in drug use (Giulianotti, 430). This paper will thus, examine key elements of an advert against drug use that focused on use of alcohol among teens. The paper will analyze the rhetorical strategies the campaign uses to pass its message to the audience. Comment by Malik Adam: Remember that the purpose of the hook is to draw the reader in. I gave the class a few examples of the best way to achieve this. Refer back to your notes & revise accordingly. Comment by Malik Adam: Remember that a paper should contain the reflection of the writer. Strive not to merely quote & paraphrase others statements & ideas, especially back to back. Comment by Malik Adam: This is not a thesis statement; this is a statement of intent. You are merely telling me what you intend you talk about. Remember the formula I gave the class: Topic + Claim = Thesis.

The creators of the “Drunken master” advert had for sure analyzed the behaviors of most alcoholics in different parts of the world. The advert was made in different languages in the world and broadcasted during the major worlds events such as sports. The ad was also aired in the world’s major channels such the BBC and the CNN. The ad focused on one high school teenager who used to perform well in class. Afterwards, he engaged himself in alcohol use and due to financial challenges he ended up using the cheap local brews. The emotional part of the ad is when the “the drunken master” is shown walking in muddy water without a shirt. He then falls down after each steps that he makes forward. As a result his body is covered with muddy, dirty waters and his trouser is torn off. The worse part of it, is that his trouser falls down as he moves and he is seen struggling to hold it on as he makes his steps forward. Ironically, in the ad people are just looking at him as he struggles to save himself from the situation. The message being passed by this advert is very strong, it not only echo most the ads that emphasize on excessive use of alcohol being harmful to health but also depicts alcohol as a bad thing that everyone should be afraid of. The paramount part of the ad is the fact that it uses a teen who used to perform well in class, then changes all over sudden, the sooner he starts taking alcohol, thereof, passing a message that, however good you are alcohol can render you useless. To my opinion, this part makes the advert effective than normal as it uses a scary scenario to pass the message. Comment by Malik Adam: This kind of background info works well, but I would advise you to create a more focused topic sentence. This paragraph is about pathos. Your topic sentence should reflect this.

According to statistics, alcohol is one of the commonly abused drug substance because, first it is legal in many countries and second it is available to all people of social classes in respect to the prices. Statistics also show that people start using alcohol at their teen age especially in high schools, colleges and universities. Therefore, using a teen to make ad against use of alcohol is one of the most effective means of passing messages against use of alcohol. Watching at this advert, brings forth a strong message to the audience that feels more responsible for the teens and even protective for them since they are aware of the negative impacts of using alcohol. Similarly, using people who are seen watching the teen fall off in the muddy water without helping has a lot of meaning to the ad. It means that, one involving himself to the use of alcohol could render him or her to be a slave of using alcohol to a point that the society can do little to help you out of the alcohol. This scenario, creates a deep sense humor and triumph as it enhances the emotional aspect of the advert by featuring how the society could do less to help somebody who has been rendered a slave by alcohol. Comment by Malik Adam: Is the paragraph about pathos or logos?

The manner in which the ad was created, gives out full message to audience that use of alcohol is not only harmful to one’s health but also bars ones from achieving a prosperous future that he or she ought to. To my opinion, the ad acts against use of alcohol which is portrayed as positive by most ads that seeks to promote its use. The first premise of the ad draws attention of a bright teen who of course is deemed to have a bright future. Then all over sudden, the bright prospects are turned into doom by him using alcohol. This premise shows how a positive kind of living could be turned into negative kind of life by use of alcohol. The second part of the ad is the aspect that it uses a teen in the ad. Commonly, teenagers are the most energetic part of society who are seen to be the leaders of tomorrow. Nevertheless, there are many deterrents that could hinder them from achieving what the society expects of them. The ad therefore, depicts alcohol as a major bar towards this expectation of the society. The logic that is been brought to the light by the advert, is that the society should be keen in bringing up the teens and also the teens themselves should be keen to avoid being rendered useless by use of drugs such as alcohol. The ad thus, captures the target audience who are mostly affected by the use of alcohol and other drug substances in a very broad spectrum. Comment by Malik Adam: I mentioned to the class not to use phrases like this: “I feel,” “in my opinion,” etc.

In conclusion, use of drugs and substance abuse is one of the ways that has been proven to cause backwards progress of the society. Developing campaign strategies that reach the society in the most emotional manner is one of the key strategies of ensuring that adverts against drug abuse are effective. Knowing the target groups of the ads is also key in composing the message to be send to the audience so as to ensure that the message reaches the target groups in the most effective manner. Additionally, despite the few challenges facing efforts to combat drug abuse such as peer influence, adverts through the print media, social media, mass media and web among other campaigns has seen a great reduction of the number of people who are engaged in the use of the drug and substance abuse. Therefore, it is the role of everyone to work towards ensuring that we combat this global virus that is eating our teens. Comment by Malik Adam: Paper needs to address Kairos a bit more.

References

Giulianotti, Richard. "Drugs and the media in the era of postmodernity: An archaeological analysis." Media, Culture & Society 19.3 (1997): 413-439.

Young, Julian Buchanan, Lee. "The War on Drugs—a war on drug users?." Drugs: Education,

Prevention, and Policy 7.4 (2000): 409-422.