Assignment 3 - Pathos

This Nike ad appeals to pathos. It’s overall simplistic design eliminates distractions that may disrupt the main point. The ad is displayed in black and white with the only color being the bright yellow text. The color for the text is taken from Lance Armstrong’s famous Livestrong campaign to fight against cancer. Because Lance Armstrong’s personal fight against cancer and his current Livestrong campaign are both widely known, the yellow color is a successful way to draw the viewer in by relating it to an occurrence/campaign already branded in the mind. The slogan “Just do it” gives viewers a sense of duty and ability – a new courage to conquer the insurmountable. By showing the scar on this cancer patient’s head, the viewer feels sympathy by viewing the reality of cancer. That, along with the fact that most viewers have an association with cancer (they either are fighting it themselves, or are related to or very close to a cancer patient/survivor or have lost a loved one to the disease), causes this ad to be an extremely effective emotional appeal.