Suits & PJ's

The delivery of the commercials are different from each other.  In the 1960s commercial, the husband and wife are "dressed for success," where as in the 1990s commercial the married couple wore pajamas.  The different ways of presentation causes viewers to asssociate coffee with different aspects of life.  Watching someone who is wearing a suit and tie drink coffee causes a viewer to associate coffee with the professional world.  In the 1960s commercial, viewers may think that coffee is necessary to reach success since the husband uses a strong tone towards his wife when the taste wasn't fillling his satisfaction.  Watching a people in pajamas drink coffee would allow the viewer to associate coffee with relaxation.  In the 1990s commercial, coffee is not necessary for one's daily life, but instead represents a luxury in life. The coffee in this commercial is made by will, rather than it being a daily routine in the 1960s video. 

Breakfast In Bed

The 1990's Folger's coffee commercial begins with a shot of a married couple in bed, quickly followed by the husband waking from bed and going to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen the husband decides to make breakfast for the wife, taking out the Folger's coffee, the husband steals a few quick whiffs of the coffee. Meanwhile, the wife is awoken by the smell and finds herself delighted when she sees her husband making her breakfast in bed.

So why present a commerical of a married couple's morning routine? What is the rhetorical situation? The writer displays the couple's morning routine in an effort to demonstrate how this specific morning is different than any other, this specific morning is better. This is a result of the coffee which the husband decides to make for a change. The writer crafts the text in this way in an effort to appeal to both the men and women of the public. The women can deduce logically that having Folger's coffee will cause their husbands to make breakfast for a change. While the men can deduce that having Folger's coffee will allow them to be happier in the morning with their wives.

-Mariah

What fun Folgers adds!

Both the 60s and 90s ads show snippets of a regular person’s day. Normally, snippets from a person’s day wouldn’t be particularly interesting. The ads try to convince us otherwise. Starting the commercials with a title of their own, just like a TV show would, Folgers promises to unfold interesting, if not exciting, happenings in the snippets of times in the characters’ daily lives. The husband’s views in the 60s ad change drastically—from considering his wife’s coffee murder to considering not having her coffee a crime. What used to be murder is not murder anymore….instead, its absence is! All because of Folgers coffee. Can you imagine such a change? It can come in any form…the 90s commercial shows it also. The husband surprises his wife, making her breakfast in bed for a change. It’s Folgers coffee again that does the trick—the wife wakes up by the smell of the coffee, and, to her delight, finds her husband trying to surprise her with the delicious Folgers coffee. These are only two daily life scenarios in the delightful outcome of which Folgers plays its part. There must be others!

--Aayush

Coffee Culture

Coffee culture is neither an antiquated nor a modern convention. Coffee has historical ties to the Mediterranean since the late fifteenth-century and continues to be a staple of modern socialization. In the fifteen- and sixteen-hundreds, coffee shops were opened in Mecca, Damascus, and Constantinople, among others, as a gathering place for intellectuals to share ideas. Fast forward four hundred years to the 1960s. Drinking coffee together provided the occasion for a man and a woman, such as a husband and wife, to have a discussion. Because this has not changed much even compared to today, the setting of two people drinking coffee establishes a highly comfortable situation for those viewing the ad. Though the occasion of drinking coffee has not changed, the culture of the coffee drinkers is much different. Look, for example, at the 1960s advertisement. A woman makes her husband his coffee in the morning. Unfortunately, he is not satisfied, he tells her so, and leaves for work so that he can bring home the bacon. Alternatively, in the 1990s commercial, the husband, to surprise his wife, wakes up early and makes her breakfast in bed. They then proceed to relax together enjoying the coffee and each other's company. Sharing a cup of coffee with someone is a great way to begin a conversation. As these ads show, the coffee hasn't changed, but fortunately the conversation has.

-Corey

Ethos of the 1960 and 1990 Ads

The source from which the information is from is significant in determining its credibility. The more credible a source is, the more likely one is to buy into its message. In the 1960's Folger's coffee advertisement, the salesman provided information to the woman in the store regarding high-quality coffee. The salesman was more creditable than a saleswoman due to the sexism of the time period, which dictated that a male is intrinsically more credible. Due to the credibility of a male salesperson, men were more likely to buy the product because they believed the product is high-quality simply because the salesman said so. Females were more likely to buy the product because the husband approved of the coffee, which established the credibility of its taste through the reactions of a male.

In the case of the 1990's Folger's coffee advertisement, the roles of establishing credibility seem to be reversed from those in the 1960's ad. The credibility is established in the commercial by both the husband and the wife, demonstrating a growing equality between the sexes at the time. Before the husband takes the coffee to his wife, he indulges in it; meanwhile, the wife sneaks down the stairs approvingly of her husband's surprise. Both husband and wife in the commercial seem to be a source of credibility for the desirability of Folger's coffee.

-Mariah

The Best Part Of Wakin' Up...

You have most likely heard the old adage, "Style is everything." Well, style may not be everything, but that doesn't mean style wasn't incredibly important to the writers of the 90s advertisement. To begin with, the upbeat background music and the catchy jingle of the 90s ad capture the audience's attention almost instantly. Immediately we feel happy, picturing ourselves in the man's position, quietly sneaking down the stairs trying not to wake our wife. We can almost smell the coffee, and we can hardly wait to surprise her! Finally the moment comes, she's delighted, and we both get comfy sipping our coffee. If only we had some Folgers right now. Of course, some of you reading this are thinking - no way, I wasn't fooled by the lighthearted and arguably cheesy commercial. I never imagined myself as either of the people in the commercial, and I would never be fooled into buying that coffee just because of this ad. But think about the title of this post again. Did you finish the line in your mind? Did you sing the jingle in your head or maybe even out loud? The style used by the writers of this ad was more than just choosing to have a song or creating this short look into a couple's lives. The goal of this advertisement was not to make you believe you were that man or woman. But imagine walking down the coffee aisle in the supermarket and seeing Folgers on the shelf. It's hard to imagine that the best part of waking wouldn't be Folgers in your cup.

-Corey

Logos and Pathos in the 90s ad

The 90s Folgers ad is aimed more towards men hoping to improve their romantic relationship with their wives. To emphasize the positive impact of Folgers coffee on the relationship, Folgers makes the ad happy and playful. The ad uses logos showing that a husband making the mountain grown Folgers coffee once in a while helps make his wife happy. It shows his wife how loving and caring he is. Furthermore, the wife wakes up by the smell of the coffee with a smile on her face. This appeals to emotion and logic of the targeted audience since the ad shows that even the smell of Folgers coffee is extremely great, which pleases the wife. The ad focuses on how much the wife appreciates her husband trying to make her happy. So, by showing a pleasant response from the wife, the ad appeals to emotions of the targeted audience. If the man can make his wife happy by making Folgers coffee for her, they can do the same.


--Aayush

What Changed? ....And Why?

The 1992 Folgers ad is drastically different from the 1960s one. The 60s ad is based on the idea that in the 60s women were responsible for all the household work, and thus, she must be the one making delicious coffee. The 1990s one shows the exact opposite: the husband makes coffee for his wife. Although the 90s ad makes it clear that he doesn’t do it often, it still is a drastic change considering the man’s terrible attitude towards his wife in the 60s ad. So why did Folgers change the whole setting? “Kairos—the contingencies of time and place” for the argument that Folgers was trying to make changed (EWR 99). People’s perception of women changed ever since the feminist movement took paces in late 60s. By 1990s, majority of the US citizens, both male and female population, had recognized women as men’s equals whether it be in the workforce or in a marriage. Thus, Folgers had to base the ad mirroring the changed views of most 90s population in order to resonate with the majority. Only then could their use of rhetoric be proper for the ad to be even considered by the majority. Forges wouldn’t have been able to sell their product to the masses had they not adapted to the changed rhetorical situation.

--Aayush Thapa

Home, Sweet Home

The rhetorical situation of the 1960s Folgers commercial is based on the fulfillment of wifely duties. The writer(s) of the this text realized that women were responsible for taking care of their husbands and the home. However, they knew women may have not been able to do everything to their husbands liking. During this time period, women were the main ones keeping the house in order (i.e. cleaning, cooking, keeping up appearances) and may not have had a lot of time to dedicate to little things, such as perfecting their coffee brews.  That is why the writer presents Folgers coffee as a solution to figuring out the perfect brewing strategy rather than just an enhancement.  The most apparent stasis in this commercial is action. The husband was unhappy because the woman was not fulfilling her wifely duties.  A women's wifely duties in that time period were of high value, which is why action is necessary to correct any related issues.

Nicole Armstrong

Your Coffee is....MURDER

When analyzing a piece of media, it is important to understand how the media attempts to connect to the audience. The 1960's Folgers coffee ad puts into use both logos and pathos, as well as a combination of the two in order to justify why consumers should purchase their product. When the scene opens, off the bat, the coffee is referred to as "criminal," the use of the word criminal appeals to logos because the audience thinks immediately of someone who has done something terrible. The comparison of the coffee ad to criminal, logically makes the audience believe that the coffee is at the same level of a criminal. The reference puts in mind that coffee that tastes that bad is a crime and has the capability of murder. With that said, considering the coffee is capable of murder, the ad plays on pathos. The wife gave her husband the coffee to drink, which means instead of the petunias, it could of been the husband who died from the coffee. So emotionally one would believe that they couldn't provide such bad coffee to their spouse because it is potentially dangerous. With both examples in mind, the two together provide the means of persuasion. Logically and emotionally, one wouldn't give their spouse something potentially harmful. This allows the audience to believe that any other coffee brand is a potential danger and that Folgers is the only good kind because it is mountain grown. The coffee being mountain grown also plays on logos. The audience believes that the coffee is good for the body because it is natural and from the mountains. 

-Mariah

So, Who Are They Talking To?

One of the first things to consider when evaluating the rhetorical aspects of a piece of literature, a video, a speech, etc. is who the potential audience is. There seem to be different audiences for the 1960s commercial and the 1990s commercial, which greatly affects the style of the video. In the first, the video seems to appeal to women watching who may be in a similar situation to the woman depicted. That is, she cannot make coffee well enough to please her husband (for the purpose of audience analysis we will ignore the inherent sexist nature of the ad). For women in this situation, a play on the damsel in distress motif, seeing that something as simple as buying a different brand of coffee can solve their problem may be enough to encourage them to try Folgers. In the 1990s commercial, on the other hand, the video is aimed more towards men. It seems to propose that Folgers is the ideal coffee to buy because, just like the man in the video, Folgers will help improve the relations between a man and his wife. Some men hoping to make their wives happy may be swayed into believing this. Hyperbole like this often plays a role in advertisements because the goal of an ad is not only to connect those viewing it with the actors, but also to produce something so funny, entertaining, strange, or otherwise memorable that the brand name sticks in your mind when you shop. Simply speaking, both of these advertisements were geared towards a married person, but emphasized different aspects of the marriage relationship to target a specific consumer.

Corey Ferrick

Let's Get Started!

Hello and thank you for visiting our rhetorical analysis blog. Here we will be analyzing and evaluating the rhetorical situations, rhetorical elements, and overall effect of two television coffee advertisements, one from the mid-1960s and the other from the early 1990s. To your right you will find five different coffee advertisements listed under Videos. The two bound by *asterisks* are the two primary sources for our analysis, and the others simply add a bit of background to the change in themes over time. Please watch our two sources, and feel free to view any of the other videos you wish.

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