Ad Verecundiam

By AJ Valenti & Jonathan

Bland

Definition
The ad verecundiam fallacy is an appeal to authority.

Examples: It says so in the bible.

My teacher says.
The priest says.

Image That Illustrates Fallacy

Magazine Ad

Davidoff Cigars; Cool Water Cologne, from Sports Illustrated

Swimsuit Edition 2016

Magazine Ad Annotations

Analysis Paragraph Of Magazine Ad

In Davidoffs advertisement for its new Cool Water cologne, uses a the fallacies of ad
verecundiam and false analogy to persuade the consumer to buy its product. Davidoff has
used Scott Eastwood to give authority to its cologne and used the statement, What makes
the ocean, makes the man, to compare the ocean to its consumers. Davidoff uses Scott
Eastwood as its figurehead to get the attention of potential clients that may be familiar to
Eastwood while using a false analogy to sound more sophisticated; however. the two
objects at hand--the ocean and man-- are wrongfully compared and have little to any
similarities. The author is trying to appeal to most likely the middle class or people who
want refinement and are not as educated as true scholars because of the enlightensounding, flamboyant diction to sound educated though giving a gentlemanly, refined
tone.

Fallacy In Text

Beckwith, Ryan. Read Donald Trumps Super Tuesday Victory Speech. Time. 2016. Web.
Time. 7 March 2016.

Fallacy In Text Annotations

A popular
economist who
has hosted tv
shows is who
Trump says likes
his idea.

He is not getting
to any sort of
point in this
part, he is just
igniting the
crowd, and
getting them on
his side.

Making a
generalization, and
also praising the
middle class for
helping our country
develop originally.

Analysis Of Fallacy In Text

After Donald Trump congratulates his fellow candidates, he starts to appease the crowd
by speaking of his plan that will supposedly lower taxes for the middle class; he states that
Larry Kudlow thinks it is the best plan yet. In Trumps world of business, Larry Kudlow is like
a lovemark-a brand that everyone knows- because he is the most popular economist, he
is someone who would appeal to the general public. Anybody who watched either of
Ludlows shows would be immediately intrigued with Trumps speech, and that would
presumably draw in more votes. The ad verecundiam adds to a long list of tricks politicians,
speakers, or advertisers use to provoke appeal to the general public; Trump uses a big time
businessman who seems like he would know his way around the topic of taxes to appeal
even more.

Our Ad

Our Ad Annotations

Analysis Of Our Ad
In the advertisement for Le Gros Problme, the author use the fallacies of ad verecundiam, faulty dilemma and the
either/or fallacy to persuade the consumer to buy the product: luxury, strapless arm slings. The author uses Ryan
Reynolds as a poster boy for its product to give it charge and supremacy while using the faulty dilemma/either/or
fallacy quote of, Youre either in a strapless or youre useless. As said in The Persuaders (a documentary on
modern marketing), Clotaire Rapaille, states, One of my discoveries was that when you learn a word
whatever it is, coffee, love, mother the first time you understand, you imprint the meaning or this word, you
create a mental connection. And so actually, every word has a mental highway. I call that a code, an
unconscious code in the brain. This is depicted in this advertisement because people associate wealth and luxury
with items such as yachts, multiple sports cars and private islands/beaches, as depicted in this ad when examined.
Ryan Reynolds does not only give authority to the product, but also gives it a sense of sexiness for he was voted
People magazines sexiest man alive adding to the idea of luxury. The faulty dilemma/either/or fallacy is using or
yet is the extremes of the faulty dilemma and threatens people's adulthood by calling them useless; however it
also puns on the idea that if your broken or sprained arm is unattended, it will make you physically useless. By
triggering ones mental highway, the author tries to convey a sense of a luxurious, wealthy, and sexy tone for a
practically useless item.