As we learn about the Toulmin argument, I annoyingly start to see it everyrwhere I look, especially in advertisements. To practice the Toulmin method, I researched some advertisements when I came across this older gillette poster, which contained both explicit and implicit parts of the Toulmin method. The main explicit claim of the poster is "you should buy a saftey razor." The explicit grounds is that "the saftey razor will not injure a grown man." The warrant, which is implicit in this instance, states "you should buy a product that that does not injure you", with the backing being "even a baby can use this product without injuring themselves." Although there do not appear to be any qualifiers or reservations, some can by made up. A possible qualifier would by "the razor does not always injure you". A possible reservation could be "unless you are satisfied with your currect razor.
This advertisement does a very good job of using the Toulmin method to prove their claim. the connections between claim, grounds, warrant, and backing all flow together well. It is this ability to connect these points that makes this advertisement a good one. It also makes the logical connection using the baby picture. By saying that something is so easy that even a baby could do it is the ultimate explanation of ease. The effective use of the Toulmin method and the underlying logical argument makes me glad to own and use gillette saftey razors myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment