Assignment 3 - Ethos

This ad appeals to ethos. As an ad produced by the Richard Nixon Foundation, the claim here is that this ad is to be trusted on issues regarding former President Richard Nixon and his life, claiming “You don’t know Dick!” An important objection to Richard Nixon himself is presented in the ad in the form of the damaged cassette tape and the words “Sometimes your whole life can flash by in 18 ½ minutes.” This refers to the 18 ½ minutes erased from the tapes regarding the Watergate scandal that bankrupt Nixon’s career, reputation, and might I say, his whole life. This ad acknowledges the public’s censure of Nixon and seeks to use the status of the Richard Nixon Foundation as a trustworthy platform for revealing the “real” Richard Nixon. Because this ad admits Nixon’s mistakes, it is more effective than it would have been if it had ignored Nixon’s tainted past. [Again, click on the photo for a larger view.]