Brian Hartmann

Karlianne Seri

WRT 102.72

12 February 2018

Ethos and Pathos in “be together. not the same” Draft

When Android aired their new commercial in 2014 called “be together. not the same.”, viewers experienced a much different message from the tech giant. Instead of the usual glorification of technology and features used in selling smartphones and software, Android opted for a short cartoon skit in their new commercial. The commercial for the phone operating system company was now a story about school kids, represented as rocks, paper and scissors, and based on the game rock-paper-scissors. It takes place in an imaginary school where initially a new ‘paper’ in the school is picked on by other paper. After a series of events, a group made up of a rock, paper and scissors end up uniting and become friends, regardless of the fact that they are all supposed to be enemies of one another. Although it may just sound like a short kids’ story about being different and helping others in need, Android purposely used this underlying message to show the benefits of their software, which is customizable and available on different types of devices, unlike their competitor, Apple. In the commercial, Android uses ethos and pathos to create a positive message towards the younger target audience, and ultimately, towards their product.

Androids uses ethos to draw viewers into the cartoon skit and to build a positive relationship towards their product. As soon as the commercial begins, viewers hear a loud school bell and see a large hallway. A new ‘paper’ kid is walking down the hall, who is shy and nervous on what seems to be his first day. After getting past the group of scissors which paper avoids, he comes up on a group of paper, who to the paper’s surprise, turn around and tease him. This immediately sets off the viewers ethos alarm, especially for younger people who might have been in this type of situation. Aren’t the scissors supposed to beat the papers up, not the other paper? In an immediate twist, a scissor comes out and breaks up the fight. The viewers concern about the new paper are now satisfied, and now the paper and scissors move on as friends. Android purposely adds this first situation in the commercial to use the idiom of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ towards the scissor and the other papers. Since most kids nowadays always want the new iPhone and not so much an Android phone like the Samsung Galaxy, Android wants viewers to have another look at their choice of phone. The use of the scene of the kids at school is used to draw the younger audience into thinking what phone they choose when the time comes. The audience is ethically questioned on what they would do in this situation and are immediately shown a positive result, building on the overall positivity of the commercial. The commercial then continues on with the paper and scissors after school coming across a group of rocks. Just like in the previous situation, a small rock is being picked on by two other rocks. Since the scissors’ weakness is rocks, he immediately runs, but the paper decides to help the small rock. Android further uses ethos in this commercial by showing how good actions can be further be spread and has the paper who now has confidence scare off the other rocks.

The upbeat nature of Androids’ commercial is apparent as soon as it begins. The audience is hit with the audio of a nostalgic school bell and 80’s rock style music. Pathos is seen when the small piece of paper is being bullied by the larger pieces of paper. These actions cause the audience to feel either sympathetic towards the tiny piece of paper or empathize towards it. Bullying is a widespread issue around the world and it is guaranteed that people have either been a victim or bullying or have witnessed it to some degree. Furthermore, when the scissor comes in and scares the bigger pieces of paper away and essentially saving the tiny piece of paper, it had a pleasing and comedic affect. The audience was relieved that the cute, tiny piece of paper was no longer being bullied and then they were able to laugh that the big pieces of paper were afraid of the small scissors because of the classic game, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Finally, as the new friends paper and scissors come across a small rock being teased by larger rocks, the situation is similar to how the commercial started with the paper. The audience once again feels empathetic or sympathetic towards the smaller rock. This time the tiny piece of paper gets some confidence and scares away the larger rocks to save the small rock and then befriends him. The pathos in the second half of the commercial is similar to the first part where the audience feels poorly towards the victim of bullying, then a sense of relief that he is rescued from the situation followed by the comedic affect that the large rocks were afraid of the tiny scissors because of the Rock, Paper, Scissors game. Android uses this to create the effect of positivity towards diversity, and then use this positivity towards their brand, which supports phone diversity.

Androids initial use of the cartoon skit shows exactly which audience they are trying to win over, teenagers and kids.